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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.

Make a worksheet

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: wound · scale · wake · file · degree · mine · net · stick

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wound — an injury
  3. file — a tool
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. scale — in music
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. wound — an injury
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. degree — temperature
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — after costs
  14. mine — for digging
  15. net — for catching
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. degree — an amount
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. scale — size or range
  21. degree — from a university
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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