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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. race — a contest
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. cell — a phone
  8. race — humankind
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pit — in a race
  11. cell — in biology
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. degree — from a university
  14. race — the arms race
  15. last — to go on
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. hand — help
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. lean — thin
  21. hand — in cards
  22. rush — hurry
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pit — a hole

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