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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.

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: chair · track · march · file · mouse · chest · sharp · degree

  1. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. file — a line of people
  7. march — the month
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. chest — of your body
  10. sharp — clever
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. track — a path
  13. chest — a box
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. march — music
  16. degree — an amount
  17. file — a tool
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. track — to keep track
  20. march — the month
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. chair — a leader
  23. track — a song
  24. degree — from a university

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