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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cell — a phone
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — the fruit
  10. face — to confront
  11. dip — to sink
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. race — the arms race
  14. pitch — completely
  15. cell — in biology
  16. race — humankind
  17. degree — temperature
  18. sharp — clever
  19. face — part of the head
  20. face — to point toward
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. race — a contest
  23. degree — from a university
  24. dip — to dunk

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