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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. cap — of ice
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. march — the month
  6. file — a tool
  7. bulb — for light
  8. saw — the tool
  9. race — humankind
  10. march — music
  11. file — a line of people
  12. cap — a hat
  13. bulb — for light
  14. race — a contest
  15. prune — to trim
  16. march — the month
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. file — a document
  20. prune — to trim
  21. race — the arms race
  22. cap — a lid
  23. saw — the tool
  24. degree — from a university

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