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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. race — the arms race
  3. rock — music
  4. swing — to play on
  5. race — humankind
  6. degree — from a university
  7. stock — shares
  8. swing — in golf
  9. degree — temperature
  10. root — of a word
  11. stock — goods
  12. rock — a stone
  13. wound — an injury
  14. root — the cause
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. swing — music
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. root — of a plant
  21. race — a contest
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rock — to move gently

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