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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. degree — from a university
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. file — a line of people
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. deal — to handle
  9. file — a document
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. rush — hurry
  12. degree — an amount
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. file — a tool
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rush — a thrill

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