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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pound — a weight
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. file — a tool
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. saw — the tool
  11. shower — rain
  12. file — a document
  13. shower — to wash
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. tear — from crying
  17. drill — army training
  18. saw — the tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. degree — temperature
  21. drill — the tool
  22. degree — from a university
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. drill — a practice

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