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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: chest · mate · date · lie · pitcher · swing · race · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chest — a box
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. degree — temperature
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. degree — from a university
  7. swing — music
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — a partner
  10. race — humankind
  11. chest — of your body
  12. swing — in golf
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. mate — to breed
  15. race — the arms race
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. chest — of your body
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. race — a contest
  20. date — the fruit
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. swing — to play on
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. lie — to recline

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