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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. land — ground
  3. degree — an amount
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. race — a contest
  9. lean — thin
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bear — the animal
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bear — the animal
  14. lean — to bend
  15. clip — a video
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. race — humankind
  18. land — a country
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. land — to come down
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. clip — to cut
  23. race — the arms race
  24. pound — to hit hard

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