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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
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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: degree · squash · wake · can · rash · race · bark · sharp

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. rash — a series
  7. rash — hasty
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. race — the arms race
  11. sharp — clever
  12. can — to be able to
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. degree — from a university
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. race — a contest
  17. squash — to crush
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. bark — to shout
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wake — a trail
  24. race — humankind

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