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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 120 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. rash — a series
  3. degree — an amount
  4. ground — the earth
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. race — a contest
  9. squash — the sport
  10. snap — to click
  11. degree — from a university
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. cue — a signal
  14. ground — crushed
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. race — the arms race
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. rash — hasty
  19. ground — a position
  20. squash — to crush
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cue — a hint
  24. race — humankind

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