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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. wake — a trail
  4. degree — temperature
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. track — a path
  8. track — to keep track
  9. spell — a short time
  10. current — electric
  11. sharp — clever
  12. race — the arms race
  13. current — of water
  14. race — humankind
  15. spell — magic
  16. track — a song
  17. squash — the sport
  18. race — a contest
  19. spell — letters
  20. squash — to crush
  21. current — happening now
  22. degree — from a university
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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