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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. rash — hasty
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. race — the arms race
  6. drill — army training
  7. race — humankind
  8. degree — from a university
  9. rash — a series
  10. prune — to trim
  11. race — a contest
  12. wind — moving air
  13. drill — the tool
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. shower — to wash
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. rush — hurry
  20. degree — temperature
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. degree — an amount
  23. drill — a practice
  24. shower — rain

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