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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · lie · race · swing · present · fan · degree · march

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. swing — in golf
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. tear — to rip
  5. race — humankind
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. tear — from crying
  9. march — the month
  10. lie — to recline
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. present — the time now
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. degree — an amount
  18. present — there
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — to play on
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — a contest
  24. tear — from crying

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