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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. race — a contest
  3. band — a music group
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. race — the arms race
  6. cold — an illness
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. degree — temperature
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — to wash
  11. dip — to sink
  12. fine — high quality
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cap — a lid
  15. race — humankind
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. degree — an amount
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cap — a hat
  24. band — a ring

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