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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. degree — temperature
  4. stem — to come from
  5. degree — an amount
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. snap — to click
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. last — final
  13. game — a match
  14. degree — from a university
  15. last — to go on
  16. sharp — clever
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. rush — hurry
  22. game — wild animals
  23. last — finally
  24. rush — to hurry

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