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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. march — the month
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. degree — from a university
  6. snap — to click
  7. charge — in control
  8. march — the month
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. degree — temperature
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. charge — a price
  15. charge — electricity
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. race — humankind
  20. degree — an amount
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. race — a contest
  23. march — music
  24. race — the arms race

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