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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. bark — to shout
  3. degree — temperature
  4. race — humankind
  5. spring — a coil
  6. degree — from a university
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. current — electric
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. current — of water
  12. swing — music
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. race — a contest
  15. swing — in golf
  16. present — a gift
  17. present — the time now
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — the season
  20. current — happening now
  21. present — there
  22. degree — an amount
  23. swing — to play on
  24. rash — a series

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