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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. present — the time now
  3. tear — from crying
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. roll — a cake
  7. degree — from a university
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. club — a group
  11. plane — a tool
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. club — for golf
  16. club — for dancing
  17. present — a gift
  18. cold — an illness
  19. present — there
  20. roll — a list
  21. cold — not warm
  22. degree — an amount
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. degree — temperature

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