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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 would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. rush — hurry
  3. race — humankind
  4. chip — for betting
  5. degree — temperature
  6. net — for catching
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. net — after costs
  11. toast — bread
  12. race — a contest
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. degree — from a university
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. chip — to eat
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. net — in sport
  20. race — the arms race
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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