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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: bulb · cell · race · racket · degree · land · mark · game

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. land — a country
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. mark — a grade
  5. race — the arms race
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. degree — an amount
  10. land — to come down
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. degree — temperature
  13. land — ground
  14. mark — a trace
  15. bulb — for light
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cell — a phone
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — a contest
  23. game — a match
  24. cell — in biology

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