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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. race — a contest
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. race — the arms race
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. row — a line
  7. swing — to play on
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. swing — music
  10. race — humankind
  11. shower — rain
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. degree — temperature
  15. pop — to visit
  16. degree — from a university
  17. swing — in golf
  18. bark — to shout
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. degree — an amount
  22. pop — soda
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. shower — to wash

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