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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bank — for money
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a document
  9. bank — of a river
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. chip — to eat
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. bank — for money
  16. rush — hurry
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. hand — help
  21. file — a tool
  22. chip — for betting
  23. degree — from a university
  24. hand — in cards

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