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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: date · scale · track · cold · chair · mark · race · arm

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. mark — a grade
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. track — a song
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. race — humankind
  13. cold — not warm
  14. race — the arms race
  15. date — the fruit
  16. race — a contest
  17. cold — an illness
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. scale — size or range
  20. mark — a trace
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. track — a path
  24. scale — in music

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