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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. saw — the tool
  4. chip — to eat
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bank — for money
  8. mate — a friend
  9. file — a line of people
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. degree — from a university
  12. mate — a partner
  13. chip — for betting
  14. degree — temperature
  15. file — a document
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bank — for money
  18. tear — to rip
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mate — to breed
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. bank — of a river
  24. file — a tool

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