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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 120 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. track — a song
  4. track — to keep track
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. degree — from a university
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. last — finally
  10. last — final
  11. season — in sport
  12. race — a contest
  13. track — a path
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. drill — army training
  16. race — humankind
  17. season — of the year
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mine — for digging
  20. drill — a practice
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. drill — the tool
  23. degree — an amount
  24. last — to go on

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