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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — a contest
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. degree — temperature
  6. track — a song
  7. race — humankind
  8. dip — to sink
  9. pitch — completely
  10. mate — a friend
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a path
  13. row — a line
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a partner
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. row — to paddle
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. race — the arms race
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. wake — a trail
  24. pitch — a sports field

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