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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. wound — an injury
  4. kick — in football
  5. suit — clothes
  6. wound — an injury
  7. file — a tool
  8. squash — to crush
  9. file — a document
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — from a university
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. degree — temperature
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. chair — a leader
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. suit — in cards
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. suit — to fit
  24. squash — the sport

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