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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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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: race · bound · field · snap · pass · degree · capital · nail

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. degree — temperature
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — farmland
  8. pass — a permit
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. bound — certain
  11. capital — a city
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. bound — tied together
  14. capital — money
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. field — a subject
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bound — obliged
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. degree — from a university
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. nail — for a hammer

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