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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. degree — an amount
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. chip — for betting
  5. plane — a tool
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. race — humankind
  8. hand — in cards
  9. degree — temperature
  10. season — of the year
  11. kid — child
  12. hand — help
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. race — a contest
  18. degree — from a university
  19. season — in sport
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. race — the arms race
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. kid — to tease

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