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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.

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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 · bank · last · hand · snap · degree · trunk · dip

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. degree — an amount
  3. file — a tool
  4. last — finally
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. bank — of a river
  7. last — final
  8. hand — help
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. last — to go on
  14. bank — for money
  15. file — a line of people
  16. dip — to sink
  17. degree — from a university
  18. hand — in cards
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. snap — to click
  21. file — a document
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. degree — temperature
  24. hand — 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