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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a tool
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cold — an illness
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. rock — music
  12. file — a line of people
  13. key — the most important part
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. key — for a lock
  17. lean — to bend
  18. lean — thin
  19. rock — a stone
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. key — in music
  23. degree — temperature
  24. rock — to move gently

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