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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. degree — temperature
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. race — a contest
  6. cap — of ice
  7. kid — to tease
  8. degree — an amount
  9. kick — in football
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. race — humankind
  12. kid — child
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — from a university
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. cap — a lid
  18. stock — shares
  19. stem — to come from
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stock — goods

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