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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. rest — what's left
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. cap — a lid
  5. ground — crushed
  6. chest — of your body
  7. scale — size or range
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. rest — a break
  10. chest — of your body
  11. race — the arms race
  12. scale — in music
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — temperature
  15. race — humankind
  16. cap — of ice
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. degree — from a university
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — the earth
  21. rest — what's left
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. cap — a hat
  24. chest — a box

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