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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  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. foot — a measure
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. tear — from crying
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. clip — a video
  11. pass — a permit
  12. last — finally
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. last — to go on
  16. clip — to cut
  17. tear — to rip
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fork — in a road
  22. tear — from crying
  23. last — final
  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