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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. content — happy
  3. degree — from a university
  4. file — a line of people
  5. degree — temperature
  6. squash — the sport
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. content — the amount
  10. race — the arms race
  11. file — a document
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wax — to grow
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — a contest
  23. squash — to crush
  24. file — a tool

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