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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. land — ground
  3. dip — to sink
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — humankind
  6. march — the month
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. march — music
  12. degree — temperature
  13. land — to come down
  14. rest — a break
  15. capital — a city
  16. land — a country
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. race — the arms race
  20. rest — what's left
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. rest — what's left
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

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