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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a line of people
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. degree — temperature
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. cold — not warm
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. file — a document
  19. degree — from a university
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — army training
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mouse — for a computer

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