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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: toast · charge · tear · file · degree · wake

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. toast — bread
  5. degree — an amount
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. file — a document
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. charge — electricity
  12. file — a line of people
  13. charge — in control
  14. degree — temperature
  15. charge — a price
  16. wake — a trail
  17. tear — to rip
  18. file — a tool

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