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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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a tool
  4. band — a ring
  5. drill — a practice
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. drill — the tool
  8. degree — from a university
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. present — a gift
  11. scale — in music
  12. degree — an amount
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. present — there
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. drill — army training
  18. degree — temperature
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. present — the time now
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. file — a line of people

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