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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wave · bay · kid · tear · bore · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bore — to tire
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. kid — to tease
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bore — gave birth

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