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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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Word bank
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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: suit · race · fine · bat · file · degree · spring · tear

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. race — a contest
  3. degree — an amount
  4. spring — of water
  5. degree — from a university
  6. suit — to fit
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bat — the animal
  9. race — the arms race
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. spring — a coil
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. fine — high quality
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. file — a tool
  18. spring — the season
  19. fine — all right
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. race — humankind
  23. degree — temperature
  24. suit — in cards

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