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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  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. deal — to handle
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pop — to visit
  4. race — a contest
  5. pop — music
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — an amount
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. tear — from crying
  10. race — humankind
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. game — wild animals
  13. tear — to rip
  14. squash — to crush
  15. lean — to bend
  16. pop — soda
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. degree — temperature
  20. game — a match
  21. squash — the sport
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. lean — thin
  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