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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. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. land — ground
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. plane — a tool
  6. roll — a cake
  7. land — to come down
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bat — the animal
  10. degree — from a university
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. row — a line
  15. land — a country
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. race — the arms race
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. rush — hurry
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — humankind
  24. degree — temperature

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