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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 116 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. rash — hasty
  3. mark — a grade
  4. mark — a trace
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. degree — temperature
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. degree — from a university
  9. field — a subject
  10. degree — an amount
  11. field — farmland
  12. file — a line of people
  13. band — a ring
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. field — for sport
  16. band — a music group
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. lie — to recline
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. rash — a series
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. file — a document
  24. branch — a division

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