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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. branch — a division
  3. degree — from a university
  4. mate — a friend
  5. race — humankind
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. race — a contest
  9. cue — for pool
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. mate — a partner
  12. race — the arms race
  13. key — in music
  14. stem — to come from
  15. degree — temperature
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — the most important part
  18. drill — army training
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. mate — to breed
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. degree — an amount
  24. cue — a signal

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