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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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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: rule · spring · hand · wake · racket · degree · race · pound

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. rule — government
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. hand — in cards
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wake — a trail
  12. hand — help
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. spring — of water
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. race — the arms race
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. spring — the season
  24. rule — a law

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