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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — humankind
  5. ground — the earth
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. file — a line of people
  8. degree — from a university
  9. kid — to tease
  10. race — the arms race
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. ground — a position
  13. pitch — completely
  14. file — a document
  15. kid — child
  16. degree — temperature
  17. stock — shares
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. file — a tool
  20. degree — an amount
  21. stock — goods
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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