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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mine — for digging
  4. band — a ring
  5. degree — from a university
  6. press — newspapers
  7. press — to push
  8. band — a music group
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. degree — temperature
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. kick — in football
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. file — a line of people
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. file — a tool
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. bat — the animal
  24. press — a publisher

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