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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 120 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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. row — a line
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. cue — a signal
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. ground — the earth
  11. cue — a hint
  12. degree — temperature
  13. ground — a position
  14. row — to paddle
  15. file — a line of people
  16. degree — from a university
  17. ground — crushed
  18. can — a tin
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mine — for digging
  21. can — a tin
  22. cue — for pool
  23. can — to be able to
  24. file — a document

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