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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: scale · degree · nail · sharp · track · tear · race · prune

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. track — a song
  3. race — humankind
  4. tear — from crying
  5. prune — to trim
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. race — a contest
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — from a university
  10. track — to keep track
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. tear — to rip
  14. degree — temperature
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. race — the arms race
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. scale — in music
  21. track — a path
  22. prune — to trim
  23. tear — from crying
  24. nail — for a hammer

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