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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. race — a contest
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. net — for catching
  5. pop — music
  6. degree — temperature
  7. squash — the sport
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. race — the arms race
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. race — humankind
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. squash — to crush
  19. pop — soda
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — in sport
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pop — to visit

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