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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. 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. temple — a place of worship
  2. key — for a lock
  3. degree — from a university
  4. object — to protest
  5. degree — an amount
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. root — of a plant
  8. saw — the tool
  9. object — an aim
  10. root — the cause
  11. key — in music
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. key — the most important part
  17. root — of a word
  18. object — a thing
  19. race — a contest
  20. degree — temperature
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pound — a weight
  23. race — humankind
  24. 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