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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 124 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. file — a document
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. lean — thin
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bulb — for light
  8. snap — to click
  9. cell — in biology
  10. root — of a word
  11. file — a line of people
  12. root — of a plant
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bulb — for light
  16. degree — temperature
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. shower — rain
  21. root — the cause
  22. degree — an amount
  23. lean — to bend
  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