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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — humankind
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. race — a contest
  6. degree — an amount
  7. clip — to cut
  8. race — the arms race
  9. stem — to come from
  10. field — farmland
  11. clip — a video
  12. fine — all right
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. field — a subject
  15. degree — temperature
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fine — high quality
  18. field — for sport

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