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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. degree — from a university
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bear — the animal
  8. game — a match
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. file — a document
  11. deal — to handle
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. file — a tool
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. degree — an amount
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. stand — to bear
  20. file — a line of people
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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