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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — the arms race
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. pit — a hole
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. race — humankind
  8. field — a subject
  9. dip — to sink
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pit — in a race
  13. scale — in music
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. degree — an amount
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. field — for sport
  20. race — a contest
  21. lie — to recline
  22. scale — size or range
  23. field — farmland
  24. scale — for weighing

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