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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 120 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: ruler · content · race · cold · racket · field

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. content — happy
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — the arms race
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. race — a contest
  16. cold — not warm
  17. field — a subject
  18. racket — a loud noise

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