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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. file — a document
  7. degree — from a university
  8. court — for sport
  9. file — a line of people
  10. court — of a king
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. degree — temperature
  13. suit — to fit
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. wake — a trail
  16. file — a tool
  17. suit — clothes
  18. suit — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. court — of law
  23. rash — hasty
  24. rash — a series

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