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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: bark · ground · plane · bat · last · race · wave · degree

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. ground — crushed
  3. last — final
  4. ground — a position
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bark — to shout
  7. degree — temperature
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. race — humankind
  11. ground — the earth
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. degree — from a university
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. race — a contest
  16. bat — the animal
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. plane — a tool
  20. degree — an amount
  21. race — the arms race
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. last — to go on
  24. bat — in an idiom

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