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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. nail — on a finger
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. kid — child
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. rest — a break
  10. content — the amount
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. degree — from a university
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. kid — to tease
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — what's left
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. content — happy
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. race — a contest
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. content — videos and posts
  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