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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: chip · degree · race · club · file · object · capital · march

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. degree — from a university
  3. club — for dancing
  4. march — music
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. chip — for betting
  8. race — humankind
  9. race — a contest
  10. file — a tool
  11. capital — money
  12. march — the month
  13. object — to protest
  14. club — a group
  15. chip — to eat
  16. club — for golf
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. object — a thing
  20. capital — a city
  21. march — the month
  22. object — an aim
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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