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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. degree — from a university
  3. drill — a practice
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. rule — a law
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. hand — in cards
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. drill — the tool
  11. race — the arms race
  12. kid — child
  13. hand — help
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. race — a contest
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. kid — to tease
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. race — humankind
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. rush — hurry
  24. rule — government

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