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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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. field — a subject
  3. spell — letters
  4. pit — in a race
  5. degree — an amount
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. game — a match
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — a contest
  10. field — farmland
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. game — wild animals
  13. spell — a short time
  14. swing — music
  15. degree — temperature
  16. swing — to play on
  17. degree — from a university
  18. field — for sport
  19. spell — magic
  20. swing — in golf
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. pit — a hole
  24. foot — a measure

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