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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: deal · fan · file · degree · cell · content · bear · perch

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. perch — the fish
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. content — the amount
  5. file — a document
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. bear — the animal
  8. file — a line of people
  9. degree — an amount
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. cell — in biology
  12. content — happy
  13. degree — from a university
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. deal — to handle
  17. degree — temperature
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — a phone
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. bear — the animal

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