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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. spell — a short time
  3. race — a contest
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. scale — size or range
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. scale — in music
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bank — for money
  16. spell — magic
  17. bank — for money
  18. clip — a video
  19. foot — a measure
  20. clip — to cut
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bank — of a river
  23. spell — letters
  24. race — humankind

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