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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: nail · degree · charge · fan · race · bat · wind · prune

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. race — a contest
  3. degree — temperature
  4. prune — to trim
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. charge — in control
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — an amount
  12. charge — electricity
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bat — the animal
  17. race — humankind
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. race — the arms race
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. wind — moving air
  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