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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. prune — to trim
  3. squash — the sport
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. race — humankind
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. bat — the animal
  9. pop — soda
  10. prune — to trim
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. pop — to visit
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. degree — temperature
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. degree — an amount
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pop — music
  20. race — the arms race
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. squash — to crush
  23. rush — hurry
  24. rush — a thrill

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