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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. current — of water
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. shower — to wash
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. current — electric
  11. roll — a cake
  12. fork — in a road
  13. roll — a list
  14. shower — rain
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. current — happening now
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. degree — from a university

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