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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 116 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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. degree — from a university
  3. file — a document
  4. wound — an injury
  5. degree — temperature
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. degree — an amount
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — not warm
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — a partner
  16. pass — a permit
  17. file — a line of people
  18. wound — an injury
  19. file — a tool
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — for betting
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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