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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 116 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. swing — to play on
  4. degree — temperature
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. rule — government
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. swing — music
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — humankind
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. degree — from a university
  15. race — a contest
  16. rule — a law
  17. degree — an amount
  18. kid — child
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. swing — in golf
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. march — music

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