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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. lean — thin
  3. file — a document
  4. ball — a dance
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. degree — from a university
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. band — a music group
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. lean — to bend
  12. season — in sport
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. file — a line of people
  20. season — of the year
  21. ball — a great time
  22. file — a tool
  23. band — a ring
  24. snap — to click

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