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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: bore · degree · deal · tear · file · hide

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bore — to tire
  7. file — a tool
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. file — a line of people
  11. deal — to handle
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. file — a document
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. degree — from a university
  18. hide — animal skin

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