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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: cold · degree · court · plane · stock · rule · coach · race

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. court — of a king
  5. rule — government
  6. degree — an amount
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. race — a contest
  9. court — of law
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. degree — from a university
  12. court — for sport
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. stock — shares
  18. race — humankind
  19. stock — goods
  20. rule — a law
  21. plane — a tool
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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