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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. file — a document
  5. fine — all right
  6. hand — help
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. pound — a weight
  9. degree — temperature
  10. file — a tool
  11. degree — from a university
  12. root — of a plant
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. root — of a word
  15. fine — high quality
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. file — a line of people
  19. hand — in cards
  20. root — the cause
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. sharp — clever
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mouse — the animal

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