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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: land · degree · kid · track · bear · lash · dip · tear

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. track — a song
  5. land — ground
  6. kid — to tease
  7. degree — an amount
  8. bear — the animal
  9. land — to come down
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. dip — to sink
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bear — the animal
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. kid — child
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. track — to keep track
  20. land — a country
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. track — a path
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. degree — temperature

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