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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: roll · race · patient · game · ball · swing · band · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. game — wild animals
  3. race — a contest
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. degree — temperature
  6. band — a ring
  7. swing — to play on
  8. ball — a dance
  9. race — humankind
  10. game — a match
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. ball — a great time
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. band — a music group
  16. degree — an amount
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. swing — in golf
  19. roll — a list
  20. roll — a cake
  21. race — the arms race
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. swing — music
  24. ball — a round shape

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