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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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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 · pound · chest · jam · drill · date · nail · file

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. chest — of your body
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. date — the fruit
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. chest — a box
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a tool
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — the tool
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pound — a weight
  20. chest — of your body
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. drill — army training
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. nail — for a hammer

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