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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 116 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: tear · cold · hide · mouse · club · degree · ruler · swing

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. club — for dancing
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. tear — to rip
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. swing — music
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. club — for golf
  15. degree — temperature
  16. club — a group
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. degree — from a university
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. degree — an amount

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