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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. object — to protest
  3. ground — crushed
  4. object — a thing
  5. bulb — for light
  6. cold — an illness
  7. game — a match
  8. degree — from a university
  9. ground — the earth
  10. degree — temperature
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. file — a line of people
  17. game — wild animals
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. cold — not warm
  20. ground — a position
  21. object — an aim
  22. file — a tool
  23. degree — an amount
  24. lash — an eyelash

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