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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. file — a line of people
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. fork — in a road
  9. degree — temperature
  10. saw — the tool
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a document
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cold — an illness
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. lash — an eyelash

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