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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  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. file — a line of people
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. vault — a safe
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. march — music
  7. squash — to crush
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. rock — music
  11. bark — to shout
  12. march — the month
  13. rock — a stone
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. march — the month
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. pound — a weight
  19. file — a tool
  20. file — a document
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. squash — the sport
  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