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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. key — the most important part
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. degree — an amount
  5. fall — the season
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. swing — to play on
  8. fall — to drop
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. race — a contest
  12. key — in music
  13. swing — music
  14. degree — temperature
  15. key — for a lock
  16. present — the time now
  17. race — humankind
  18. kick — in football
  19. present — there
  20. swing — in golf
  21. race — the arms race
  22. fall — to drop
  23. degree — from a university
  24. present — a gift

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