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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 · cap · race · court · game · degree · track · nail

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. track — a song
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. game — wild animals
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cap — a hat
  8. race — a contest
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. degree — an amount
  11. track — a path
  12. court — of law
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. race — humankind
  15. game — a match
  16. degree — from a university
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. degree — temperature
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of a king
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cap — of ice
  23. race — the arms race
  24. cap — a lid

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