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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. race — the arms race
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. wound — an injury
  8. field — a subject
  9. race — a contest
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. degree — temperature
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. pitch — completely
  17. race — humankind
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. degree — from a university
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. wound — an injury
  23. degree — an amount
  24. rush — a thrill

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