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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. degree — from a university
  3. file — a line of people
  4. bank — for money
  5. degree — temperature
  6. file — a tool
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bank — for money
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. bank — of a river
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. file — a document
  17. charge — a price
  18. charge — electricity
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — an amount
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cell — in biology
  24. charge — in control

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