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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. race — the arms race
  4. drill — army training
  5. spell — a short time
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. fall — to drop
  9. rash — a series
  10. game — a match
  11. degree — from a university
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. rash — hasty
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. fall — the season
  17. spell — letters
  18. race — a contest
  19. spell — magic
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. fall — to drop
  23. race — humankind
  24. hide — to keep secret

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