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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: last · degree · bound · race · fan · game · bulb · racket

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. race — a contest
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bulb — for light
  7. degree — an amount
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. race — humankind
  13. last — finally
  14. last — to go on
  15. race — the arms race
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bound — tied together
  18. last — final
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. bound — certain
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a match
  24. degree — temperature

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