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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 120 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. degree — from a university
  4. race — the arms race
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. firm — steady
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. march — the month
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. firm — decided
  15. last — to go on
  16. firm — a company
  17. fall — to drop
  18. hand — help
  19. race — humankind
  20. march — the month
  21. race — a contest
  22. march — music
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. hand — in cards

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