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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — a permit
  3. race — humankind
  4. march — music
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. net — in sport
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. swing — music
  10. net — after costs
  11. march — the month
  12. race — the arms race
  13. swing — to play on
  14. net — for catching
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. race — a contest
  17. march — the month
  18. bat — the animal
  19. swing — in golf
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. pass — to spend time

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