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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. key — in music
  3. sharp — clever
  4. land — to come down
  5. wind — moving air
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. file — a tool
  8. key — the most important part
  9. file — a document
  10. degree — an amount
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. prune — to trim
  13. land — ground
  14. degree — from a university
  15. ball — a great time
  16. land — a country
  17. prune — to trim
  18. key — for a lock
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. file — a line of people
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. ball — a dance
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. wind — moving air

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