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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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Word bank
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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: pop · degree · prune · wind · race · club

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. club — a group
  4. wind — moving air
  5. club — for dancing
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. race — the arms race
  9. pop — soda
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. club — for golf
  12. wind — moving air
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — a contest
  15. pop — music
  16. pop — to visit
  17. degree — from a university
  18. prune — to trim

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