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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. degree — from a university
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a tool
  8. lean — thin
  9. firm — decided
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. degree — temperature
  12. file — a document
  13. firm — steady
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cold — an illness
  16. firm — a company
  17. shower — to wash
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. chest — of your body
  20. shower — rain
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. lean — to bend
  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