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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: degree · bat · squash · race · firm · mark · chair · swing

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — humankind
  3. swing — to play on
  4. swing — in golf
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. race — a contest
  7. firm — steady
  8. degree — temperature
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. firm — a company
  11. squash — to crush
  12. race — the arms race
  13. mark — a trace
  14. mark — a grade
  15. swing — music
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. squash — the sport
  18. bat — the animal
  19. firm — decided
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. chair — a leader

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