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

Word bank: race · saw · rule · club · swing · degree

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. race — humankind
  3. swing — to play on
  4. degree — temperature
  5. rule — government
  6. club — for golf
  7. degree — an amount
  8. rule — a law
  9. race — the arms race
  10. degree — from a university
  11. saw — the tool
  12. race — a contest
  13. club — a group
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. swing — in golf
  16. saw — the tool
  17. swing — music
  18. club — for dancing

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