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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. cell — in biology
  3. capital — money
  4. degree — an amount
  5. race — a contest
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. file — a document
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cell — a phone
  10. race — the arms race
  11. season — of the year
  12. season — in sport
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. race — humankind
  15. object — a thing
  16. file — a tool
  17. capital — a city
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. object — an aim
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bat — the animal
  22. object — to protest
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bat — in an idiom

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