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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: pound · degree · bear · file · firm · cold

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cold — an illness
  3. firm — steady
  4. pound — a weight
  5. file — a document
  6. bear — the animal
  7. firm — a company
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. file — a tool
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. firm — decided
  12. bear — the animal
  13. degree — temperature
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. degree — an amount

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