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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. kid — to tease
  3. race — humankind
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. track — a path
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. track — a song
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. kid — child
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. track — to keep track
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. race — the arms race
  16. lie — to recline
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. tube — the underground
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. race — a contest
  23. tube — a container
  24. arm — part of the body

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