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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: trunk · degree · chip · date · race · swing

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chip — to eat
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. date — the fruit
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. race — humankind
  10. degree — temperature
  11. chip — for betting
  12. degree — an amount
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — in golf
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. race — the arms race
  18. degree — from a university

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