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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: key · cap · rash · degree · roll · race · snap · fork

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. degree — from a university
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. rash — hasty
  5. race — a contest
  6. cap — of ice
  7. key — the most important part
  8. snap — to click
  9. degree — an amount
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. roll — a cake
  12. rash — a series
  13. roll — a list
  14. cap — a hat
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. key — in music
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. degree — temperature
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. key — for a lock
  23. fork — in a road
  24. cap — a lid

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