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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 116 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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. file — a line of people
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. game — wild animals
  5. spell — magic
  6. file — a tool
  7. march — the month
  8. rock — a stone
  9. spell — letters
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. fine — all right
  12. rock — music
  13. degree — an amount
  14. game — a match
  15. degree — temperature
  16. fine — high quality
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. spell — a short time
  21. degree — from a university
  22. file — a document
  23. wound — an injury
  24. game — a kind of play

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