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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. current — of water
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — humankind
  6. degree — an amount
  7. current — electric
  8. march — the month
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. march — the month
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pitch — completely
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. march — music
  21. degree — from a university
  22. race — the arms race
  23. wave — of the sea
  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