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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. rest — what's left
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. rest — a break
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. chip — for betting
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. lean — to bend
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. file — a tool
  17. lean — thin
  18. shower — to wash
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bore — to drill
  22. chip — to eat
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. lean — to rest against

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