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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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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: tear · bat · drill · file · temple · straw · degree · pound

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. file — a document
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — an amount
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. drill — army training
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. file — a line of people
  11. degree — from a university
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. drill — the tool
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. degree — temperature
  17. file — a tool
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bat — the animal
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. pound — a weight
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. pound — to hit hard

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