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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. file — a document
  5. ball — a dance
  6. spring — of water
  7. ball — a great time
  8. degree — an amount
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. spring — the season
  11. file — a line of people
  12. degree — temperature
  13. race — the arms race
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. race — humankind
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. lie — to recline
  18. shower — rain
  19. race — a contest
  20. degree — from a university
  21. spring — a coil
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. shower — to wash
  24. file — a tool

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