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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 cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. degree — from a university
  3. last — final
  4. suit — in cards
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. race — the arms race
  7. degree — temperature
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. land — a country
  10. last — to go on
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. mine — for digging
  14. land — ground
  15. bark — to shout
  16. degree — an amount
  17. race — humankind
  18. land — to come down
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — rain
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. last — finally
  23. suit — to fit
  24. race — a contest

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