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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. lie — to recline
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. last — final
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. march — music
  10. race — humankind
  11. degree — temperature
  12. race — the arms race
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. race — a contest
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. last — finally
  18. degree — from a university
  19. march — the month
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. dip — to sink
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. march — the month
  24. last — to go on

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