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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. spring — of water
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. race — a contest
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. race — the arms race
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. race — humankind
  13. tube — the underground
  14. hand — help
  15. rule — government
  16. spring — a coil
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. tube — a container
  20. degree — an amount
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. hand — in cards
  23. spring — the season
  24. rule — a law

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