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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: degree · pound · chair · tear · bound · cold

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. degree — from a university
  3. tear — from crying
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. bound — tied together
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chair — a leader
  10. bound — obliged
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bound — certain
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pound — a weight

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