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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 · race · tear · net · plane · degree

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. tear — from crying
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — in music
  5. plane — a tool
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. degree — temperature
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. tear — from crying
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. race — a contest
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — an amount
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. tear — to rip
  17. race — humankind
  18. net — in 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