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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. race — the arms race
  3. file — a tool
  4. track — a song
  5. rock — music
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. race — humankind
  8. fine — high quality
  9. degree — an amount
  10. court — for sport
  11. track — to keep track
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. file — a document
  14. court — of a king
  15. degree — temperature
  16. file — a line of people
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. court — of law
  20. race — a contest
  21. degree — from a university
  22. rock — a stone
  23. track — a path
  24. fine — a penalty

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