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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. chip — to eat
  6. key — for a lock
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — a contest
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. swing — to play on
  11. chip — for betting
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. row — to paddle
  14. key — in music
  15. row — a line
  16. key — the most important part
  17. rash — a series
  18. race — the arms race
  19. swing — in golf
  20. degree — an amount
  21. foot — a measure
  22. degree — temperature
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. swing — music

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