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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. race — humankind
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. race — the arms race
  5. spring — the season
  6. last — to go on
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. spring — of water
  9. last — finally
  10. race — a contest
  11. degree — from a university
  12. firm — a company
  13. fine — high quality
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. tube — the underground
  16. firm — decided
  17. fine — all right
  18. firm — steady
  19. cell — in biology
  20. degree — temperature
  21. tube — a container
  22. last — final
  23. cell — a phone
  24. spring — a coil

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