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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. degree — temperature
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bark — to shout
  7. roll — a list
  8. bank — of a river
  9. cold — not warm
  10. file — a line of people
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. file — a tool
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. roll — a cake
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bank — for money
  20. cold — an illness
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bank — for money
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. cabinet — ministers

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