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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. court — of law
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. court — for sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. chair — a leader
  12. court — of a king
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. race — the arms race
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. kid — to tease
  17. degree — an amount
  18. content — happy
  19. degree — from a university
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. kid — child
  22. race — a contest
  23. pass — a permit
  24. degree — temperature

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