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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — the underground
  4. degree — temperature
  5. file — a document
  6. tube — a container
  7. chip — to eat
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. scale — in music
  11. kid — child
  12. scale — size or range
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. file — a line of people
  17. chip — for betting
  18. file — a tool
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. kid — to tease
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. degree — an amount
  23. prune — to trim
  24. nail — for a hammer

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