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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. file — a line of people
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pop — to visit
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stand — to bear
  10. pop — soda
  11. file — a document
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. shower — to wash
  14. lean — to bend
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. dip — to sink
  18. pop — music
  19. shower — rain
  20. lean — thin
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. file — a tool
  24. dip — to dunk

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