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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. board — to get on
  3. race — the arms race
  4. content — the amount
  5. race — a contest
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. wound — an injury
  8. content — happy
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. degree — an amount
  12. swing — in golf
  13. degree — temperature
  14. swing — to play on
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. board — a committee
  17. degree — from a university
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. wound — an injury
  21. shower — rain
  22. race — humankind
  23. swing — music
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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