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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 120 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. degree — temperature
  3. pop — soda
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. game — wild animals
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — government
  9. last — final
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. race — the arms race
  12. degree — from a university
  13. race — a contest
  14. pop — to visit
  15. race — humankind
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. prune — to trim
  19. last — to go on
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. pop — music
  22. last — finally
  23. prune — to trim
  24. game — a match

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