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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: pitch · wind · can · court · degree · craft · file · race

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. craft — boats
  3. craft — a skill
  4. race — humankind
  5. court — of law
  6. can — a tin
  7. wind — moving air
  8. degree — from a university
  9. file — a line of people
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. can — a tin
  13. race — a contest
  14. file — a document
  15. race — the arms race
  16. wind — moving air
  17. can — to be able to
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. degree — temperature
  21. court — of a king
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. file — a tool
  24. court — 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