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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. degree — an amount
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. file — a tool
  6. field — a subject
  7. degree — from a university
  8. suit — clothes
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. suit — to fit
  11. field — for sport
  12. degree — temperature
  13. file — a line of people
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. suit — in cards
  18. field — farmland
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. sharp — clever
  21. file — a document
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. tear — to rip
  24. sharp — with an edge

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