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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. file — a document
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. sharp — clever
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. rock — a stone
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. cold — an illness
  12. rock — music
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. degree — temperature
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. file — a tool
  23. pass — a permit
  24. fork — in a road

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