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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. spell — letters
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. vault — a safe
  7. degree — from a university
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. net — for catching
  10. race — the arms race
  11. spell — a short time
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. race — a contest
  17. degree — temperature
  18. spell — magic
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. race — humankind
  24. fan — a supporter

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