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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. race — humankind
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. last — finally
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. last — to go on
  11. race — a contest
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. deal — to handle
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. degree — temperature
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. last — final
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. race — the arms race
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. bat — the animal
  24. degree — from a university

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