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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mark — a grade
  3. mark — a trace
  4. file — a document
  5. ground — crushed
  6. capital — money
  7. file — a tool
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. file — a line of people
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wound — an injury
  14. tear — to rip
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. tear — from crying
  19. wound — an injury
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. tear — from crying
  23. capital — a city
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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