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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. race — humankind
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. race — a contest
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. clip — for paper
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. race — the arms race
  11. degree — temperature
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. clip — a video
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. mine — for digging
  18. key — in music
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — the most important part
  21. fork — in a road
  22. net — after costs
  23. degree — from a university
  24. clip — to cut

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