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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: march · key · nail · pop · bat · trunk · degree · race

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — temperature
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. march — music
  5. pop — music
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. key — for a lock
  9. race — humankind
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. key — in music
  13. pop — soda
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. key — the most important part
  16. march — the month
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pop — to visit
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. degree — an amount
  21. race — the arms race
  22. march — the month
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. race — a contest

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