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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. pop — music
  4. degree — temperature
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. content — happy
  7. hand — help
  8. race — the arms race
  9. pop — to visit
  10. spell — magic
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. row — a line
  13. spell — letters
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. degree — an amount
  16. hand — in cards
  17. race — a contest
  18. pop — soda
  19. degree — from a university
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. race — humankind
  22. row — to paddle
  23. content — the amount
  24. row — a quarrel

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