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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: foot · degree · cold · wave · file · lie · mine · last

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. foot — a measure
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. last — final
  8. file — a document
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. file — a tool
  11. lie — to recline
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mine — for digging
  14. file — a line of people
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. degree — an amount
  22. last — to go on
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. last — finally

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