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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. wind — moving air
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rest — a break
  5. suit — to fit
  6. rest — what's left
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. suit — clothes
  10. wind — moving air
  11. hand — in cards
  12. degree — from a university
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pop — music
  16. pop — soda
  17. hand — help
  18. degree — temperature
  19. rest — what's left
  20. pop — to visit
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hand — part of the body

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