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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. spell — magic
  6. march — the month
  7. degree — an amount
  8. march — the month
  9. squash — the sport
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. sharp — clever
  12. race — humankind
  13. march — music
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. squash — to crush
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. race — a contest
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. spell — a short time
  22. degree — from a university
  23. race — the arms race
  24. spell — letters

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