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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. mark — a trace
  4. chest — a box
  5. mark — a grade
  6. clip — to cut
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. race — the arms race
  11. degree — from a university
  12. race — a contest
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. bulb — for light
  15. chest — of your body
  16. degree — an amount
  17. kick — in football
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. bulb — for light
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. chest — of your body
  24. race — humankind

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