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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. land — to come down
  2. row — to paddle
  3. field — farmland
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. degree — an amount
  7. court — of a king
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. row — a line
  11. race — a contest
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. field — for sport
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. race — the arms race
  16. degree — temperature
  17. race — humankind
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pass — a permit
  20. court — for sport
  21. land — a country
  22. field — a subject
  23. land — ground
  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