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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. degree — from a university
  3. shower — to wash
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. race — a contest
  6. spring — a coil
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — employees
  9. spring — of water
  10. cell — in biology
  11. tear — from crying
  12. race — the arms race
  13. tear — from crying
  14. current — electric
  15. staff — a stick
  16. spring — the season
  17. tear — to rip
  18. degree — an amount
  19. current — of water
  20. degree — temperature
  21. shower — rain
  22. current — happening now
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. cell — a phone

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