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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 · date · cold · rest · bark · lash · lie · stand

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stand — to bear
  4. rest — what's left
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. rest — what's left
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. rest — a break
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. lie — to recline
  23. bark — to shout
  24. stand — for spectators

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