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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. race — a contest
  3. content — the amount
  4. stem — to come from
  5. degree — an amount
  6. band — a ring
  7. content — happy
  8. race — the arms race
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. stand — to bear
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. degree — temperature
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. race — humankind

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