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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. snap — to click
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. rule — a law
  6. march — music
  7. race — a contest
  8. ground — the earth
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. race — humankind
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. rule — government
  17. race — the arms race
  18. ground — crushed

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