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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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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 · scale · court · sharp · staff · degree · chest · track

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. chest — a box
  2. degree — an amount
  3. sharp — clever
  4. court — for sport
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. race — the arms race
  8. track — a path
  9. staff — employees
  10. court — of a king
  11. staff — a stick
  12. track — to keep track
  13. staff — employees
  14. scale — size or range
  15. chest — of your body
  16. track — a song
  17. race — a contest
  18. chest — of your body
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — from a university
  21. court — of law
  22. scale — in music
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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