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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. file — a tool
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. ground — a position
  5. shower — to wash
  6. degree — temperature
  7. shower — rain
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. club — for dancing
  11. deal — to handle
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. club — a group
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. file — a document
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. degree — an amount
  18. ground — the earth
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. band — a music group
  21. ground — crushed
  22. club — for golf
  23. file — a line of people
  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