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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: prune · bulb · tear · hand · degree · cell · race · mark

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. hand — in cards
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. prune — to trim
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. bulb — for light
  11. race — humankind
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bulb — for light
  14. race — a contest
  15. tear — from crying
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. mark — a trace
  18. cell — in biology
  19. degree — an amount
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. mark — a grade
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. prune — to trim
  24. hand — help

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