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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. pass — a permit
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pit — in a race
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. swing — to play on
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. degree — an amount
  12. shower — to wash
  13. pit — a hole
  14. shower — rain
  15. file — a document
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — music
  18. degree — temperature
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. file — a line of people
  21. dip — to sink
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — a sauce

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