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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. degree — from a university
  3. can — a tin
  4. race — the arms race
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. degree — an amount
  8. clip — a video
  9. tube — the underground
  10. face — to point toward
  11. race — a contest
  12. bat — the animal
  13. can — a tin
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. race — humankind
  17. face — to confront
  18. can — to be able to
  19. degree — temperature
  20. clip — to cut
  21. tube — a container
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. nail — for a hammer

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