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

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. mate — a partner
  3. file — a line of people
  4. spell — magic
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. mate — to breed
  7. degree — from a university
  8. file — a document
  9. degree — temperature
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — in sport
  12. degree — an amount
  13. spell — letters
  14. kid — child
  15. mate — a friend
  16. kid — to tease
  17. file — a tool
  18. net — for catching

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