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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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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: band · race · pound · degree · object · prune · trunk · chest

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — humankind
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. degree — from a university
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. degree — an amount
  11. object — a thing
  12. chest — of your body
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. pound — a weight
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — to trim
  17. band — a music group
  18. band — a ring
  19. chest — of your body
  20. object — to protest
  21. object — an aim
  22. race — the arms race
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. chest — a box

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