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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  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. swing — to play on
  2. chest — of your body
  3. degree — an amount
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. degree — temperature
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. drill — army training
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. degree — from a university
  10. race — humankind
  11. current — electric
  12. drill — the tool
  13. chest — of your body
  14. race — the arms race
  15. chest — a box
  16. sharp — clever
  17. drill — a practice
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. race — a contest
  21. swing — in golf
  22. current — of water
  23. current — happening now
  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