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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: mark · current · file · net · degree · march · cap · hand

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mark — a grade
  4. net — in sport
  5. degree — temperature
  6. current — of water
  7. cap — a hat
  8. mark — a trace
  9. file — a tool
  10. march — the month
  11. hand — help
  12. cap — of ice
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a line of people
  15. current — electric
  16. hand — in cards
  17. net — after costs
  18. cap — a lid
  19. current — happening now
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. net — for catching
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. hand — part of the body

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