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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. net — after costs
  3. chip — for betting
  4. march — the month
  5. chip — to eat
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. march — music
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. degree — an amount
  15. race — humankind
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — in sport
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — the month
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. race — the arms race
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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