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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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Word bank
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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: bat · lie · degree · pop · pitch · bark · tear · chest

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bat — the animal
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bark — to shout
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. pitch — completely
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pop — soda
  15. degree — temperature
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. tear — to rip
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. lie — to recline
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. pop — music
  24. chest — of your body

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