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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.

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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chest — a box
  3. chest — of your body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. race — a contest
  7. chair — a leader
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. race — humankind
  10. pound — a weight
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. degree — an amount
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. degree — temperature
  18. race — the arms race

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