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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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. drill — the tool
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. current — happening now
  6. current — of water
  7. spell — letters
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. drill — a practice
  11. file — a tool
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — magic
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. drill — army training
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. file — a line of people
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. current — electric
  21. perch — the fish
  22. degree — an amount
  23. file — a document
  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