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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. net — for catching
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pound — a weight
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. fine — all right
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. cold — not warm
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fine — high quality
  13. degree — an amount
  14. file — a document
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. rush — hurry
  19. file — a tool
  20. net — in sport
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. degree — temperature
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. net — after costs

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