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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. race — humankind
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. last — to go on
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. fork — in a road
  8. spring — the season
  9. race — the arms race
  10. degree — temperature
  11. spell — letters
  12. race — a contest
  13. degree — from a university
  14. spring — of water
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. last — finally
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. degree — an amount
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spell — a short time
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. spell — magic

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