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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. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. race — humankind
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — a group
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. degree — temperature
  13. field — a subject
  14. club — for dancing
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. branch — a division
  19. game — a match
  20. field — farmland
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. field — for sport
  23. game — wild animals
  24. race — a contest

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