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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: kick · squash · bowl · degree · swing · prune · race · spell

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. kick — in football
  3. spell — magic
  4. race — a contest
  5. prune — to trim
  6. degree — an amount
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. swing — music
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. spell — letters
  13. degree — from a university
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. race — the arms race
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. race — humankind
  18. swing — in golf
  19. squash — the sport
  20. degree — temperature
  21. prune — to trim
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. spell — a short time
  24. squash — to crush

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