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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 120 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: race · chip · wind · last · degree · scale · rule · field

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. scale — size or range
  3. scale — in music
  4. chip — for betting
  5. last — final
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — humankind
  13. wind — moving air
  14. field — farmland
  15. race — a contest
  16. last — to go on
  17. rule — government
  18. degree — an amount
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. rule — a law
  22. chip — to eat
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. last — finally

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