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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. degree — an amount
  3. spell — a short time
  4. wind — moving air
  5. spell — letters
  6. race — humankind
  7. current — electric
  8. degree — temperature
  9. face — part of the head
  10. race — a contest
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. current — happening now
  15. degree — from a university
  16. race — the arms race
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. current — of water
  20. face — to point toward
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. spell — magic
  24. face — to confront

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