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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. file — a document
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. rule — government
  6. bound — obliged
  7. file — a line of people
  8. season — in sport
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. rule — a law
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. chip — for betting
  13. bound — tied together
  14. chip — to eat
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. court — for sport
  18. degree — an amount
  19. branch — a division
  20. court — of a king
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. bound — certain
  23. court — of law
  24. file — a tool

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