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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. current — of water
  6. file — a tool
  7. club — for golf
  8. club — for dancing
  9. mark — a grade
  10. bat — the animal
  11. current — happening now
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a document
  15. mark — a trace
  16. bear — the animal
  17. row — a line
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — temperature
  20. row — to paddle
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. current — electric
  24. club — a group

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