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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: degree · file · chip · tear · chair · key · rock · last

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. key — in music
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. file — a document
  6. last — final
  7. last — to go on
  8. key — for a lock
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. degree — from a university
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. rock — music
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. rock — a stone
  16. chair — a leader
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool
  19. key — the most important part
  20. last — finally
  21. degree — temperature
  22. chip — for betting
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chip — to eat

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