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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: track · rock · face · deal · file · chair · last · degree

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. last — finally
  3. chair — a leader
  4. face — part of the head
  5. file — a document
  6. track — a song
  7. degree — an amount
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. track — to keep track
  11. deal — to handle
  12. face — to confront
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. last — final
  15. rock — music
  16. face — to point toward
  17. rock — a stone
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. degree — from a university
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. track — a path
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. last — to go on
  24. degree — temperature

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