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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 116 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: squash · mark · bound · last · degree · race · hand · capital

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. race — the arms race
  3. degree — an amount
  4. mark — a grade
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. race — a contest
  7. mark — a trace
  8. degree — temperature
  9. last — final
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. squash — to crush
  13. squash — the sport
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. race — humankind
  18. last — to go on
  19. bound — obliged
  20. bound — tied together
  21. degree — from a university
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. capital — a city
  24. bound — certain

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