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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. degree — an amount
  3. stock — goods
  4. race — humankind
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. spell — a short time
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. fall — the season
  11. spell — letters
  12. game — a match
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. race — the arms race
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. race — a contest
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. deal — to handle
  20. stock — shares
  21. fall — to drop
  22. game — wild animals
  23. spell — magic
  24. fall — to drop

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