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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. degree — temperature
  3. file — a tool
  4. degree — from a university
  5. clip — a video
  6. last — finally
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — to drill
  11. file — a line of people
  12. vault — a safe
  13. last — to go on
  14. clip — for paper
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. file — a document
  20. last — final
  21. shower — to wash
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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