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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 120 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: racket · tear · tube · land · rest · cold · degree · lean

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. lean — thin
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — not warm
  7. land — ground
  8. degree — an amount
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. degree — temperature
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — a country
  13. rest — what's left
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. cold — an illness
  16. lean — to bend
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — the underground
  20. degree — from a university
  21. tube — a container
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. rest — a break
  24. tear — to rip

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