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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 120 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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. chest — of your body
  3. degree — from a university
  4. race — the arms race
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. mate — a friend
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. squash — to crush
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. degree — temperature
  13. squash — the sport
  14. race — humankind
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — to breed
  17. race — a contest
  18. degree — an amount

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