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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mark — a grade
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — temperature
  5. field — for sport
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chest — a box
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. mark — a trace
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. chest — of your body
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. pit — in a race
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. field — a subject
  18. race — humankind
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. field — farmland
  21. sharp — clever
  22. race — the arms race
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. race — a contest

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