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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bank — for money
  9. cold — an illness
  10. file — a line of people
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. bank — of a river
  13. file — a tool
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. bank — for money
  17. degree — temperature
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. degree — from a university
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stand — to bear
  22. fork — in a road
  23. bat — the animal
  24. file — a document

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