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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: file · roll · dip · pass · wound · degree · cold · net

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. file — a tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. net — for catching
  11. roll — a list
  12. net — after costs
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — an amount
  15. file — a document
  16. net — in sport
  17. degree — temperature
  18. file — a line of people
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to sink
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. pass — a permit
  24. pass — to spend time

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