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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rash — a series
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. degree — an amount
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. game — a match
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. file — a tool
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. file — a line of people
  16. rash — hasty
  17. file — a document
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. bark — to shout
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. degree — temperature
  24. game — wild animals

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