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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — final
  5. race — the arms race
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. degree — from a university
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. row — to paddle
  11. degree — temperature
  12. row — a line
  13. race — humankind
  14. fine — high quality
  15. degree — an amount
  16. race — a contest
  17. last — finally
  18. coach — pulled by horses

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