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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. file — a line of people
  3. drill — army training
  4. lean — thin
  5. rule — government
  6. file — a document
  7. wind — moving air
  8. degree — from a university
  9. pit — a hole
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. drill — a practice
  12. rule — a law
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. lean — to bend
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. file — a tool
  20. pitch — completely
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pit — in a race
  24. drill — the 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