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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bulb — for light
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. mark — a trace
  9. cold — an illness
  10. court — of law
  11. race — a contest
  12. fall — to drop
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cold — not warm
  15. court — for sport
  16. fall — to drop
  17. mark — a grade
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. court — of a king
  20. fall — the season
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bark — to shout
  24. race — the arms race

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