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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. degree — from a university
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. degree — temperature
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — humankind
  11. pop — music
  12. degree — an amount
  13. capital — a city
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. stock — goods
  16. race — the arms race
  17. wax — to grow
  18. pop — soda
  19. pop — to visit
  20. stock — shares
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. capital — money
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. rush — hurry

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