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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 116 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cue — a hint
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. degree — an amount
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. swing — music
  8. face — part of the head
  9. craft — a skill
  10. swing — to play on
  11. race — humankind
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. craft — boats
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. face — to confront
  18. scale — in music
  19. race — a contest
  20. swing — in golf
  21. face — to point toward
  22. scale — size or range
  23. race — the arms race
  24. cue — for pool

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