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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 116 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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. swing — music
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. prune — to trim
  5. squash — the sport
  6. degree — an amount
  7. swing — to play on
  8. squash — to crush
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pitch — completely
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. prune — to trim
  13. kid — child
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. race — a contest
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. degree — temperature
  18. race — the arms race
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. race — humankind
  21. kid — to tease
  22. track — a path
  23. track — a song
  24. swing — in golf

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