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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. shower — to wash
  3. file — a tool
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. file — a line of people
  9. object — an aim
  10. degree — from a university
  11. face — part of the head
  12. object — to protest
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rush — hurry
  16. face — to point toward
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. file — a document
  20. shower — rain
  21. face — to confront
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. object — a thing
  24. march — music

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