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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 116 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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  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. bear — the animal
  2. file — a document
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. branch — a division
  6. kid — to tease
  7. chip — to eat
  8. file — a tool
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bear — the animal
  14. kid — child
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chip — for betting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. degree — temperature
  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