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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. degree — from a university
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bark — to shout
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. cell — in biology
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. kick — in football
  21. chair — a leader
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. dip — to sink

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