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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · degree · race · bound · cap · temple

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. race — humankind
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. tear — from crying
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bound — tied together
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cap — a hat
  11. bound — certain
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. cap — a lid
  16. bound — obliged
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cap — of ice

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