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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 116 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: stand · clip · wound · race · degree · field · safe · pitch

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. clip — for paper
  3. field — a subject
  4. race — a contest
  5. field — farmland
  6. clip — to cut
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. race — the arms race
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. pitch — completely
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. wound — an injury
  21. field — for sport
  22. clip — a video
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. race — humankind

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