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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. degree — an amount
  5. race — a contest
  6. saw — the tool
  7. degree — from a university
  8. race — humankind
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. wound — an injury
  17. race — the arms race
  18. degree — temperature
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — clever
  21. rule — government
  22. saw — the tool
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. rule — a law

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