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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. file — a document
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. degree — an amount
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a tool
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cold — an illness
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. vault — a safe
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. degree — temperature
  19. march — the month
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cold — not warm
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. degree — from a university

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