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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 · kick · key · degree · swing · shower

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. race — a contest
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. key — for a lock
  6. swing — in golf
  7. shower — to wash
  8. swing — to play on
  9. race — humankind
  10. shower — rain
  11. key — in music
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. degree — temperature
  16. swing — music
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. race — the arms race

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