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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. degree — an amount
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. cold — not warm
  8. race — humankind
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. drill — the tool
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — a group
  13. degree — temperature
  14. dip — to sink
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — a contest
  17. club — for dancing
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. drill — army training
  21. pitch — completely
  22. plane — a tool
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. drill — a practice

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