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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 · degree · can · chair · mine · mark · branch · file

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. can — to be able to
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. file — a document
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. mine — for digging
  9. chair — a leader
  10. can — a tin
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. file — a tool
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. degree — from a university
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. branch — a division
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. mark — a trace
  19. can — a tin
  20. mark — a grade
  21. race — humankind
  22. race — a contest
  23. file — a line of people
  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