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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. file — a document
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. degree — temperature
  12. band — a music group
  13. wind — moving air
  14. prune — to trim
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. degree — an amount
  18. file — a line of people
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. file — a tool
  21. band — a ring
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. foot — a measure
  24. fan — a supporter

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