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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. file — a document
  3. can — a tin
  4. degree — an amount
  5. fork — in a road
  6. can — a tin
  7. snap — to click
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. can — to be able to
  13. shower — to wash
  14. game — a match
  15. degree — from a university
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. file — a line of people
  20. game — wild animals
  21. degree — temperature
  22. file — a tool
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. straw — dry grass

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