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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. degree — temperature
  3. chip — for betting
  4. degree — an amount
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. degree — from a university
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. file — a tool
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. file — a document
  14. cap — a lid
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. mine — for digging
  17. saw — the tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. cap — of ice
  21. chip — to eat
  22. cap — a hat
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. saw — the tool

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