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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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Word bank
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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cold — an illness
  4. file — a tool
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. degree — temperature
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cue — a signal
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. pound — a weight
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wound — an injury
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. degree — from a university
  17. file — a document
  18. cue — a hint
  19. cue — for pool
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. perch — the fish
  24. bear — to put up with

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