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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: roll · degree · field · stand · kid · foot · race · rush

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. stand — to bear
  3. kid — child
  4. roll — a cake
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. race — a contest
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. degree — from a university
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. race — humankind
  13. field — for sport
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. field — farmland
  17. rush — hurry
  18. foot — a measure
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. degree — an amount
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. field — a subject
  24. race — the arms race

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