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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bowl · track · file · degree · capital · game · wind · foot

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. file — a tool
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. capital — money
  7. track — a path
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. file — a line of people
  13. capital — a city
  14. track — a song
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. track — to keep track
  17. degree — from a university
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. game — a match
  20. file — a document
  21. foot — a measure
  22. degree — temperature
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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