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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. bass — the fish
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bass — low music
  5. degree — temperature
  6. snap — to click
  7. swing — in golf
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. race — the arms race
  11. swing — to play on
  12. land — to come down
  13. race — a contest
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. bound — tied together
  16. land — a country
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. degree — from a university
  19. swing — music
  20. land — ground
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — obliged
  24. straw — a straw man

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