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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. race — humankind
  7. last — final
  8. hand — in cards
  9. squash — the sport
  10. fall — the season
  11. race — the arms race
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — to grow
  15. fall — to drop
  16. degree — temperature
  17. squash — to crush
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. fall — to drop
  21. hand — help
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. race — a contest
  24. last — finally

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