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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 ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. stock — shares
  3. rule — government
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — humankind
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bank — for money
  13. rule — a law
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. degree — from a university
  17. race — the arms race
  18. stock — goods
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bank — for money
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bank — of a river
  23. sharp — clever
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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