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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: file · wound · tube · mark · tear · fan · degree · last

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. file — a line of people
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. tube — a container
  5. degree — an amount
  6. file — a tool
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. tube — the underground
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. file — a document
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. wound — an injury
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. degree — from a university
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. mark — a grade
  19. last — final
  20. degree — temperature
  21. last — finally
  22. mark — a trace
  23. wound — an injury
  24. last — to go on

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