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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 120 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  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. degree — from a university
  2. cold — not warm
  3. degree — an amount
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. present — there
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. tear — from crying
  8. present — the time now
  9. present — a gift
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. land — a country
  14. degree — temperature
  15. snap — to click
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fine — high quality
  18. land — to come down
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. land — ground
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. fine — all right
  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