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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. ground — crushed
  4. chest — of your body
  5. content — happy
  6. degree — an amount
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. degree — temperature
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. degree — from a university
  11. plane — a tool
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. race — the arms race
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. content — the amount
  16. race — humankind
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. ground — the earth
  20. chest — of your body
  21. ground — a position
  22. chest — a box
  23. race — a contest
  24. pound — a weight

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