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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 116 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. degree — from a university
  3. object — to protest
  4. game — a match
  5. race — the arms race
  6. mine — for digging
  7. race — humankind
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. degree — an amount
  10. object — a thing
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. race — a contest
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — child
  20. bark — to shout
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. object — an aim
  23. degree — temperature
  24. nail — for a hammer

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