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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. file — a document
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. rush — hurry
  5. cold — an illness
  6. file — a tool
  7. firm — steady
  8. pound — a weight
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. degree — temperature
  12. firm — decided
  13. bark — to shout
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. degree — an amount
  16. firm — a company
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. file — a line of people
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. lie — to recline
  24. pound — to hit hard

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