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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. degree — from a university
  3. race — humankind
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. race — the arms race
  9. mug — to rob
  10. roll — a cake
  11. mug — a face
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. row — a line
  14. date — the fruit
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. roll — a list
  18. degree — temperature
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. race — a contest
  22. row — to paddle
  23. mug — a cup
  24. date — on the calendar

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