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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: race · game · cue · net · bark · prune · object · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. net — in sport
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. cue — for pool
  8. degree — an amount
  9. race — humankind
  10. net — for catching
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cue — a signal
  14. cue — a hint
  15. object — a thing
  16. bark — to shout
  17. race — the arms race
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. object — to protest
  20. prune — to trim
  21. race — a contest
  22. degree — temperature
  23. net — after costs
  24. object — an aim

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