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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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mate — a friend
  6. hand — in cards
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. hand — help
  9. file — a line of people
  10. bat — the animal
  11. lean — to bend
  12. degree — temperature
  13. file — a tool
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. rash — a series
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. mate — to breed
  20. mate — a partner
  21. degree — from a university
  22. file — a document
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. lean — to rest against

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