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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: bass · key · fall · hand · degree · fine · file · rash

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fall — to drop
  3. key — in music
  4. file — a document
  5. rash — hasty
  6. fall — to drop
  7. file — a tool
  8. degree — an amount
  9. hand — in cards
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fall — the season
  12. file — a line of people
  13. degree — temperature
  14. key — for a lock
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. fine — high quality
  21. rash — a series
  22. key — the most important part
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. hand — help

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