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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. degree — temperature
  3. land — ground
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. bear — the animal
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cold — not warm
  11. file — a tool
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. file — a document
  16. land — to come down
  17. degree — from a university
  18. land — a country

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