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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 124 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. fork — in a road
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. rest — what's left
  5. pitch — completely
  6. degree — an amount
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — of the year
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. degree — from a university
  12. season — in sport
  13. saw — the tool
  14. rest — what's left
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bat — the animal
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. rest — a break
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. tear — from crying
  23. degree — temperature
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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