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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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. degree — temperature
  3. file — a line of people
  4. row — a line
  5. sharp — clever
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. race — humankind
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pop — music
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. race — the arms race
  12. degree — from a university
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. race — a contest
  15. pop — soda
  16. row — to paddle
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. wound — an injury
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. file — a tool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. file — a document
  23. pop — to visit
  24. wound — an injury

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