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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  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. sharp — clever
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. last — to go on
  5. tube — a container
  6. degree — temperature
  7. land — a country
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. stand — to bear
  10. race — humankind
  11. bass — the fish
  12. race — a contest
  13. degree — from a university
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. degree — an amount
  19. tube — the underground
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. last — final
  22. last — finally
  23. bass — low music
  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