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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. chest — of your body
  5. drill — the tool
  6. chest — a box
  7. game — a match
  8. chest — of your body
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — a contest
  11. drill — army training
  12. game — wild animals
  13. drill — a practice
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. mark — a grade
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. race — humankind
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. degree — temperature
  24. mark — a trace

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