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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — humankind
  3. degree — temperature
  4. swing — in golf
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. net — in sport
  7. swing — to play on
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — a contest
  10. net — after costs
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. net — for catching
  14. root — the cause
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. wound — an injury
  17. degree — an amount
  18. swing — music
  19. date — the fruit
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — of a word
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. date — on the calendar

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