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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 reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  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. bound — tied together
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. cold — an illness
  5. firm — steady
  6. bear — the animal
  7. firm — a company
  8. file — a tool
  9. pound — a weight
  10. bound — certain
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bound — obliged
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cold — not warm
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. file — a document
  19. bear — the animal
  20. firm — decided
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pound — for dogs
  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