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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. tear — from crying
  3. degree — from a university
  4. cue — for pool
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cue — a signal
  7. wound — an injury
  8. ground — the earth
  9. race — humankind
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. race — a contest
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cue — a hint
  15. ground — crushed
  16. rest — a break
  17. wound — an injury
  18. degree — an amount
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rest — what's left
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. race — the arms race
  23. rest — what's left
  24. mine — for digging

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