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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. race — a contest
  3. squash — to crush
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. degree — temperature
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. row — a line
  8. track — a path
  9. vault — a safe
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. degree — an amount
  14. race — humankind
  15. row — to paddle
  16. court — of a king
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. degree — from a university
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. track — to keep track
  21. track — a song
  22. race — the arms race
  23. court — for sport
  24. court — of law

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