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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 120 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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. race — humankind
  4. mark — a grade
  5. race — a contest
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — to wash
  9. degree — an amount
  10. club — a group
  11. hand — help
  12. club — for dancing
  13. shower — rain
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. mark — a trace
  16. degree — temperature
  17. race — the arms race
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. club — for golf
  20. degree — from a university
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. snap — to click

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