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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. hand — in cards
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. race — a contest
  17. hand — help
  18. land — ground
  19. land — a country
  20. degree — temperature
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bass — low music
  24. land — to come down

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