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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. board — a committee
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. hand — help
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. degree — temperature
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — clever
  17. degree — an amount
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. race — a contest
  22. board — to get on
  23. tear — to rip
  24. race — humankind

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