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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. wound — an injury
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. content — the amount
  5. degree — from a university
  6. pop — soda
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pop — music
  9. race — the arms race
  10. degree — temperature
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. race — a contest
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mine — for digging
  17. race — humankind
  18. scale — size or range
  19. degree — an amount
  20. content — happy
  21. scale — in music
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. deal — to handle

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