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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. degree — temperature
  3. perch — the fish
  4. race — a contest
  5. ball — a dance
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. rule — a law
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bore — to tire
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. file — a tool
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. bore — to drill
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rule — government
  19. race — humankind
  20. ball — a great time
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pass — a permit
  23. file — a document
  24. degree — an amount

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