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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. spell — a short time
  3. ground — a position
  4. race — a contest
  5. ground — the earth
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. spell — letters
  9. present — a gift
  10. mine — for digging
  11. root — the cause
  12. ground — crushed
  13. present — the time now
  14. root — of a plant
  15. present — there
  16. degree — from a university
  17. race — humankind
  18. root — of a word
  19. club — a group
  20. club — for dancing
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. spell — magic
  24. race — the arms race

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