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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 120 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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. land — ground
  3. degree — from a university
  4. current — of water
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. land — to come down
  7. race — the arms race
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. current — electric
  12. shower — to wash
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. shower — rain
  15. wind — moving air
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. current — happening now
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. foot — a measure
  21. land — a country
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — an amount
  24. race — a contest

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