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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 120 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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Word bank
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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. chest — of your body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — an amount
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. suit — clothes
  11. chest — a box
  12. race — humankind
  13. drill — a practice
  14. degree — from a university
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. drill — the tool
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. suit — to fit
  21. bat — the animal
  22. drill — army training
  23. snap — to click
  24. suit — in cards

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