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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 120 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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. kid — to tease
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. file — a tool
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. shower — rain
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. chair — a leader
  9. degree — an amount
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. branch — a division
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. kid — child
  21. shower — to wash
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. file — a line of people
  24. degree — from a university

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