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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: hand · march · straw · race · key · drill · snap · degree

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. drill — army training
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. march — music
  10. snap — to click
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. degree — from a university
  14. key — for a lock
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. march — the month
  17. key — the most important part
  18. march — the month
  19. hand — in cards
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. drill — the tool
  23. race — humankind
  24. key — in music

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