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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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Word bank
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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: degree · temple · land · bass · bat · key · race · chest

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. key — the most important part
  3. chest — a box
  4. bass — low music
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. key — for a lock
  10. land — to come down
  11. race — humankind
  12. land — ground
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bass — the fish
  15. race — the arms race
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. race — a contest
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bat — the animal
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. chest — of your body
  24. land — a country

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