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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. stem — to come from
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. land — to come down
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. land — a country
  17. foot — a measure
  18. race — humankind
  19. land — ground
  20. wind — moving air
  21. content — happy
  22. content — the amount
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. race — the arms race

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