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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  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. ground — crushed
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. degree — an amount
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. degree — from a university
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a line of people
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. degree — temperature
  12. scale — size or range
  13. file — a tool
  14. scale — in music
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. kick — in football
  18. race — the arms race
  19. ground — the earth
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. race — a contest
  23. ground — a position
  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