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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. file — a document
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. key — for a lock
  8. vault — a safe
  9. file — a line of people
  10. degree — an amount
  11. key — the most important part
  12. degree — temperature
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. chip — to eat
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. key — in music
  21. file — a tool
  22. date — the fruit
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. chip — for betting

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