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

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to click
  4. race — a contest
  5. degree — an amount
  6. last — finally
  7. degree — temperature
  8. drill — army training
  9. race — the arms race
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. last — final
  12. last — to go on
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. race — humankind
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — a practice

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