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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. chest — a box
  5. race — humankind
  6. degree — temperature
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wake — a trail
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cue — for pool
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cue — a hint
  13. drill — a practice
  14. rush — hurry
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — clever
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. race — a contest
  19. cue — a signal
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. chest — of your body
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. drill — the tool

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