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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bank — for money
  3. degree — temperature
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. mate — a friend
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. bank — for money
  8. degree — from a university
  9. file — a tool
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — a line
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. root — of a word
  14. root — the cause
  15. wound — an injury
  16. file — a line of people
  17. degree — an amount
  18. stand — to bear
  19. bank — of a river
  20. mate — to breed
  21. root — of a plant
  22. row — to paddle
  23. mate — a partner
  24. file — a document

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