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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. race — a contest
  6. squash — to crush
  7. wound — an injury
  8. track — a path
  9. game — wild animals
  10. race — the arms race
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. game — a match
  15. squash — the sport
  16. track — a song
  17. race — humankind
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. track — to keep track
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. branch — a division
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wound — an injury

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