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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 116 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'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. race — humankind
  4. bat — the animal
  5. degree — an amount
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. race — the arms race
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cue — a signal
  13. degree — from a university
  14. season — of the year
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cold — an illness
  19. tube — a container
  20. cue — a hint
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. race — a contest
  23. season — in sport
  24. pitch — completely

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