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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. mine — for digging
  3. degree — temperature
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. saw — the tool
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. dip — to sink
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. scale — size or range
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. scale — in music
  13. degree — from a university
  14. race — a contest
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. saw — the tool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. branch — a division
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. race — humankind

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