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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: file · kid · temple · rule · degree · bat

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. degree — from a university
  3. file — a document
  4. bat — the animal
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. file — a tool
  8. kid — child
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. file — a line of people
  13. degree — temperature
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. rule — government
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. rule — a law

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