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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: deal · stand · degree · tear · hide · clip

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. degree — from a university
  5. tear — from crying
  6. clip — for paper
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — an amount
  9. tear — from crying
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. tear — to rip
  12. deal — to handle
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. clip — to cut
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. clip — a video
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. stand — to bear

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