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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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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: leaves · race · ball · squash · cell · degree · wave · clip

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. race — the arms race
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ball — a great time
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ball — a dance
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. cell — in biology
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — a phone
  16. race — humankind
  17. clip — to cut
  18. squash — to crush
  19. race — a contest
  20. clip — a video
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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