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

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. race — a contest
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. snap — to click
  8. degree — an amount
  9. march — the month
  10. race — the arms race
  11. firm — a company
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. firm — steady
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. game — wild animals
  16. degree — temperature
  17. game — a match
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. race — humankind
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. firm — decided
  24. degree — from a university

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