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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: shower · race · swing · stock · firm · last · sharp · degree

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. last — finally
  3. shower — to wash
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. degree — an amount
  6. race — the arms race
  7. swing — in golf
  8. degree — from a university
  9. firm — decided
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — humankind
  13. firm — a company
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. shower — rain
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — final
  18. swing — music
  19. stock — shares
  20. swing — to play on
  21. firm — steady
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stock — goods

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