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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 116 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. scale — size or range
  4. file — a line of people
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. file — a document
  7. sharp — clever
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. degree — temperature
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. march — the month
  14. file — a tool
  15. mate — a partner
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. mate — to breed
  18. plane — a tool
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in biology
  21. march — the month
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. march — music
  24. scale — in music

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