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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bore — to drill
  5. current — of water
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mine — for digging
  10. shower — rain
  11. can — a tin
  12. file — a tool
  13. can — a tin
  14. current — electric
  15. current — happening now
  16. degree — temperature
  17. can — to be able to
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bore — to tire
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. shower — to wash
  23. file — a document
  24. wound — an injury

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