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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: degree · file · tear · hand · band · mine · arm · suit

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. file — a tool
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. hand — in cards
  5. suit — clothes
  6. band — a ring
  7. file — a line of people
  8. degree — from a university
  9. hand — help
  10. band — a music group
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. suit — in cards
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. degree — an amount
  17. file — a document
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. mine — for digging
  21. degree — temperature
  22. tear — to rip
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. arm — part of the body

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