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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a tool
  4. degree — temperature
  5. club — for golf
  6. clip — to cut
  7. last — to go on
  8. club — for dancing
  9. deal — to handle
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. clip — a video
  12. club — a group
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. chest — of your body
  15. firm — steady
  16. firm — decided
  17. last — final
  18. clip — for paper
  19. firm — a company
  20. file — a line of people
  21. degree — from a university
  22. last — finally
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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