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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. degree — from a university
  3. fine — high quality
  4. clip — for paper
  5. degree — temperature
  6. current — happening now
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. file — a tool
  10. fine — all right
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. file — a line of people
  15. current — of water
  16. clip — a video
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. current — electric
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. stand — to bear
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. degree — an amount
  24. clip — to cut

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