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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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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: safe · prune · wind · chest · mate · file · degree · pound

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mate — to breed
  5. file — a tool
  6. mate — a partner
  7. file — a document
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. prune — to trim
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. prune — to trim
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pound — a weight
  24. degree — an amount

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