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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 120 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: mate · straw · kid · degree · prune · rash · race · pit

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — a hole
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — to breed
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. degree — from a university
  10. mate — a partner
  11. kid — to tease
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. rash — a series
  14. race — a contest
  15. rash — hasty
  16. pit — in a race
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — the arms race
  19. degree — temperature
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. prune — to trim
  22. degree — an amount
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rash — on the skin

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