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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: fork · degree · race · mouse · capital · club

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. race — a contest
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — temperature
  8. race — humankind
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — for golf
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. club — a group
  13. capital — money
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. capital — a city
  16. race — the arms race
  17. fork — in a road
  18. fork — a garden tool

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