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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: pass · chest · squash · prune · racket · court · degree · saw

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. court — for sport
  3. prune — to trim
  4. saw — the tool
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. pass — a permit
  8. squash — the sport
  9. chest — of your body
  10. court — of a king
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. saw — the tool
  13. degree — from a university
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. squash — to crush
  17. degree — temperature
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. court — of law
  20. prune — to trim
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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