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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. season — in sport
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. last — final
  5. fine — all right
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. last — finally
  10. file — a tool
  11. pound — a weight
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. season — of the year
  15. degree — from a university
  16. file — a document
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bark — to shout
  20. fine — high quality
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. last — to go on

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