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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: race · degree · chest · bowl · charge · perch · fan · bat

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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. fan — to cool the air
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. charge — a price
  7. charge — electricity
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. race — humankind
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. charge — in control
  12. chest — a box
  13. perch — the fish
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. race — a contest
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. chest — of your body
  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