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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bound — tied together
  5. bound — certain
  6. last — to go on
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. track — a path
  9. track — a song
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. capital — money
  12. game — a match
  13. race — the arms race
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. last — finally
  16. race — a contest
  17. capital — a city
  18. track — to keep track
  19. degree — temperature
  20. game — wild animals
  21. bound — obliged
  22. last — final
  23. race — humankind
  24. ruler — for measuring

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