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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: ball · row · tear · cue · chest · fan · nail · degree

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. tear — from crying
  4. ball — a great time
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cue — a signal
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. row — a line
  10. cue — a hint
  11. degree — temperature
  12. chest — of your body
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. degree — an amount
  16. row — to paddle
  17. degree — from a university
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. cue — for pool
  21. chest — a box
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. chest — of your body
  24. row — a quarrel

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