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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. ground — a position
  4. root — of a word
  5. lean — thin
  6. ground — the earth
  7. degree — an amount
  8. file — a document
  9. ground — crushed
  10. rule — a law
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rule — government
  13. file — a tool
  14. club — for dancing
  15. lean — to bend
  16. root — the cause
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. club — a group
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. degree — from a university
  23. file — a line of people
  24. root — of a plant

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