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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: field · plane · race · degree · chest · row

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chest — of your body
  3. plane — a tool
  4. degree — an amount
  5. row — a line
  6. race — humankind
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. row — to paddle
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — a subject
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. degree — temperature
  13. chest — a box
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — a contest
  16. field — farmland
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. field — for sport

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