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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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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. cap — a hat
  3. race — a contest
  4. file — a line of people
  5. cap — of ice
  6. roll — a cake
  7. cap — a lid
  8. race — humankind
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pop — to visit
  12. degree — from a university
  13. tube — the underground
  14. pop — soda
  15. race — the arms race
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. pop — music
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — a container
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. degree — an amount

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