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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. firm — decided
  3. race — humankind
  4. ground — the earth
  5. race — the arms race
  6. mate — to breed
  7. firm — steady
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. mate — a partner
  10. degree — an amount
  11. hand — in cards
  12. mate — a friend
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. hand — help
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. degree — temperature
  17. ground — crushed
  18. cell — a phone
  19. fork — in a road
  20. firm — a company
  21. race — a contest
  22. ground — a position
  23. cell — in biology
  24. hand — part of the body

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