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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: pitcher · roll · nail · race · degree · rash · prune · file

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. race — humankind
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a document
  6. roll — a list
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. file — a line of people
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — from a university
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. race — the arms race
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. rash — a series
  20. prune — to trim
  21. race — a contest
  22. roll — a cake
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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