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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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Word bank
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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. tube — the underground
  3. race — the arms race
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. mine — for digging
  6. degree — an amount
  7. race — a contest
  8. spell — magic
  9. net — for catching
  10. bass — low music
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. net — after costs
  14. saw — the tool
  15. spell — letters
  16. bass — the fish
  17. spell — a short time
  18. net — in sport
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. tube — a container
  22. saw — the tool
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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