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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: squash · bark · rash · wave · race · degree · clip · pound

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rash — a series
  4. squash — the sport
  5. clip — to cut
  6. race — humankind
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. squash — to crush
  14. clip — a video
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. race — the arms race
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. rash — hasty
  22. race — a contest
  23. bark — to shout
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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