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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. last — to go on
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. degree — an amount
  5. can — a tin
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. sharp — clever
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. race — a contest
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. degree — from a university
  13. can — to be able to
  14. bore — to drill
  15. last — finally
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. race — the arms race
  18. can — a tin
  19. bore — to tire
  20. degree — temperature
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. race — humankind
  23. bat — the animal
  24. last — final

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