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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. bound — obliged
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. file — a document
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. mine — for digging
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cap — a hat
  12. content — the amount
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. bound — certain
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. content — happy
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. file — a line of people
  21. craft — boats
  22. bound — tied together
  23. degree — from a university
  24. craft — a skill

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