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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 · tear · race · game · sharp · racket · swing · drill

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — from a university
  3. swing — to play on
  4. swing — in golf
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. drill — army training
  8. race — humankind
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. race — a contest
  11. degree — an amount
  12. swing — music
  13. game — a match
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. game — wild animals
  17. drill — a practice
  18. sharp — clever
  19. tear — from crying
  20. race — the arms race
  21. drill — the tool
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. racket — for tennis

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