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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 124 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. race — a contest
  4. ground — the earth
  5. ground — crushed
  6. degree — from a university
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. degree — temperature
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. ground — a position
  11. chest — of your body
  12. craft — boats
  13. chest — of your body
  14. hand — in cards
  15. kick — in football
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. craft — a skill
  19. pound — a weight
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — an amount
  22. race — humankind
  23. hand — help
  24. race — the arms race

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