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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. fall — the season
  3. present — the time now
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. present — there
  7. fall — to drop
  8. degree — an amount
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. tube — the underground
  13. degree — from a university
  14. sharp — clever
  15. degree — temperature
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. file — a document
  19. fall — to drop
  20. tube — a container
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. file — a tool
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. present — a gift

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