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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: degree · season · mine · pound · snap · file · sharp · spell

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. file — a document
  6. pound — a weight
  7. degree — temperature
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. sharp — clever
  10. spell — letters
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. file — a line of people
  13. season — in sport
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. degree — an amount
  16. mine — for digging
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. spell — a short time
  19. season — of the year
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. degree — from a university
  23. spell — magic
  24. file — a tool

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