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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. degree — from a university
  3. swing — to play on
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — to tease
  6. swing — music
  7. race — a contest
  8. degree — an amount
  9. race — humankind
  10. kid — child
  11. degree — temperature
  12. object — to protest
  13. rule — government
  14. capital — money
  15. rule — a law
  16. object — an aim
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. object — a thing
  19. race — the arms race
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. swing — in golf
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. capital — a city

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