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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 124 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wake — a trail
  5. march — music
  6. staff — a stick
  7. march — the month
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. march — the month
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a tool
  13. staff — employees
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — rain
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. degree — from a university
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. file — a document
  23. staff — employees
  24. degree — an amount

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