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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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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. key — in music
  3. mate — a friend
  4. race — the arms race
  5. degree — temperature
  6. file — a line of people
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. mate — a partner
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. pound — a weight
  12. mate — to breed
  13. file — a document
  14. court — of a king
  15. key — for a lock
  16. court — of law
  17. court — for sport
  18. lean — to bend
  19. degree — an amount
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — a contest
  22. key — the most important part
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. file — a tool

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