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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
468
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: racket · clip · track · squash · roll · tear · degree · hand

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. degree — an amount
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. squash — the sport
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. track — a path
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. clip — a video
  10. hand — help
  11. roll — a cake
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hand — in cards
  14. degree — from a university
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. track — a song
  17. squash — to crush
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. tear — from crying
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a list
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. track — to keep track
  24. clip — for paper

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