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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: content · degree · fan · chest · cue · ground · race · snap

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cue — a hint
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ground — crushed
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. chest — of your body
  10. content — the amount
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cue — for pool
  13. ground — a position
  14. snap — to click
  15. race — humankind
  16. cue — a signal
  17. chest — a box
  18. degree — temperature
  19. ground — the earth
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. degree — from a university
  22. race — a contest
  23. content — happy
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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