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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rock — a stone
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rock — music
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bat — the animal
  13. wake — a trail
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. degree — temperature
  16. net — for catching
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. rush — hurry
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. net — in sport
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. net — after costs
  24. tear — to rip

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