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

Word bank: field · pit · last · race · degree · deal

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. degree — temperature
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. field — for sport
  5. race — a contest
  6. degree — from a university
  7. last — final
  8. race — humankind
  9. last — to go on
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. degree — an amount
  12. pit — a hole
  13. last — finally
  14. field — farmland
  15. deal — to handle
  16. race — the arms race
  17. field — a subject
  18. pit — in a race

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