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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. file — a document
  3. net — in sport
  4. degree — temperature
  5. file — a tool
  6. court — of law
  7. swing — in golf
  8. race — the arms race
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — humankind
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. net — for catching
  14. court — for sport
  15. degree — an amount
  16. chair — a leader
  17. scale — size or range
  18. swing — to play on
  19. net — after costs
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — in music
  22. court — of a king
  23. degree — from a university
  24. swing — music

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