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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 124 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. court — for sport
  3. key — in music
  4. degree — an amount
  5. file — a line of people
  6. club — for dancing
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a lid
  9. club — a group
  10. band — a ring
  11. key — for a lock
  12. cap — a hat
  13. degree — temperature
  14. court — of law
  15. degree — from a university
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. court — of a king
  18. key — the most important part
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. band — a music group
  23. club — for golf
  24. file — a document

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