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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. drill — a practice
  5. plane — a tool
  6. drill — army training
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. drill — the tool
  10. season — of the year
  11. perch — the fish
  12. squash — the sport
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. race — humankind
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. squash — to crush
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. season — in sport
  20. race — a contest
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. race — the arms race
  23. pass — a permit
  24. perch — for a bird

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