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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. degree — an amount
  3. court — for sport
  4. spell — a short time
  5. court — of law
  6. degree — temperature
  7. content — happy
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — money
  11. press — newspapers
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. court — of a king
  14. press — to push
  15. rush — hurry
  16. press — a publisher
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. degree — from a university
  20. spell — magic
  21. content — the amount
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. spell — letters
  24. race — a contest

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