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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. race — the arms race
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. land — to come down
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cell — in biology
  10. degree — temperature
  11. plane — a tool
  12. land — a country
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. tear — to rip
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. land — ground
  17. race — a contest
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — an amount
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bat — the animal
  23. cell — a phone
  24. tear — from crying

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