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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. swing — in golf
  3. file — a tool
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. object — to protest
  6. file — a line of people
  7. object — a thing
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. swing — music
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. ball — a dance
  13. object — an aim
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ball — a great time
  19. swing — to play on
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pound — a weight
  22. rash — hasty
  23. file — a document
  24. degree — from a university

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