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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. last — final
  3. wind — moving air
  4. staff — employees
  5. saw — the tool
  6. swing — to play on
  7. degree — an amount
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. staff — a stick
  10. last — finally
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pit — in a race
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. saw — the tool
  16. pit — a hole
  17. staff — employees
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — in golf
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. wind — moving air
  23. degree — from a university
  24. last — to go on

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