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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rock — a stone
  3. rest — a break
  4. file — a document
  5. degree — from a university
  6. club — for dancing
  7. file — a tool
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. rest — what's left
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — money
  13. file — a line of people
  14. club — a group
  15. rock — music
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. degree — temperature
  19. shower — rain
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. club — for golf
  22. shower — to wash
  23. rest — what's left
  24. capital — a city

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