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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. drill — the tool
  3. tear — to rip
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. drill — army training
  6. degree — an amount
  7. race — the arms race
  8. degree — temperature
  9. game — a match
  10. drill — a practice
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. race — humankind
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mark — a trace
  15. tear — from crying
  16. game — wild animals
  17. stock — goods
  18. race — a contest
  19. wake — a trail
  20. degree — from a university
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. stock — shares
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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