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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: last · mate · cell · race · degree · bulb · court · nail

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. cell — in biology
  3. bulb — for light
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. court — of a king
  6. last — to go on
  7. degree — from a university
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. mate — to breed
  10. last — finally
  11. race — humankind
  12. court — of law
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cell — a phone
  15. race — a contest
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. last — final
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. mate — a partner
  20. degree — an amount
  21. court — for sport
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. race — the arms race

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