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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. firm — a company
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. degree — an amount
  5. firm — decided
  6. press — to push
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. club — a group
  10. degree — from a university
  11. rest — what's left
  12. press — a publisher
  13. file — a document
  14. rest — what's left
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. pit — a hole
  17. file — a tool
  18. firm — steady
  19. press — newspapers
  20. rest — a break
  21. file — a line of people
  22. club — for golf
  23. pit — in a race
  24. degree — temperature

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