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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: hide · stem · wound · degree · lean · chair · bore · tear

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wound — an injury
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. chair — a leader
  6. degree — from a university
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bore — to tire
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. stem — to come from
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. degree — temperature
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bore — to drill
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. lean — thin
  24. hide — to keep secret

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