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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: scale · kid · rock · stand · degree · race

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. scale — size or range
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — the arms race
  5. rock — music
  6. race — humankind
  7. degree — temperature
  8. kid — to tease
  9. rock — a stone
  10. degree — from a university
  11. scale — in music
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. stand — to bear
  16. kid — child
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. stand — on your feet

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