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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: wound · file · toast · bound · bulb · bat · degree · rush

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. file — a document
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. degree — from a university
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bound — certain
  10. toast — bread
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bulb — for light
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. bound — tied together
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bound — obliged
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. rush — hurry
  22. bulb — for light
  23. degree — an amount
  24. file — a tool

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