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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — from a university
  5. spell — a short time
  6. cap — a hat
  7. cap — a lid
  8. row — a line
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pound — a weight
  11. kid — child
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. spell — letters
  18. cap — of ice
  19. row — to paddle
  20. spell — magic
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. pit — in a race
  24. tear — from crying

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com