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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. suit — clothes
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. degree — temperature
  6. can — to be able to
  7. file — a tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. can — a tin
  10. degree — an amount
  11. suit — in cards
  12. saw — the tool
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. suit — to fit
  15. march — the month
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. can — a tin
  18. degree — from a university
  19. saw — the tool
  20. march — music
  21. sharp — clever
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. bat — the animal

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