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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: chip · race · cue · fall · file · season · degree · track

  1. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. season — in sport
  3. chip — to eat
  4. track — a song
  5. track — to keep track
  6. season — of the year
  7. file — a tool
  8. fall — the season
  9. chip — for betting
  10. file — a document
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cue — for pool
  13. cue — a hint
  14. track — a path
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. race — a contest
  17. degree — temperature
  18. file — a line of people
  19. degree — an amount
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. degree — from a university
  22. race — the arms race
  23. race — humankind
  24. fall — to drop

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