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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. fall — to drop
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. degree — from a university
  5. file — a line of people
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. file — a tool
  9. degree — temperature
  10. branch — a division
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. file — a document
  15. rock — music
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. fall — the season
  18. wind — moving air
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. degree — an amount
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. rock — a stone
  24. fall — to drop

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