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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. pound — a weight
  3. current — of water
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. file — a tool
  6. root — of a plant
  7. degree — from a university
  8. root — the cause
  9. file — a document
  10. race — the arms race
  11. root — of a word
  12. dip — to sink
  13. kid — to tease
  14. current — electric
  15. degree — temperature
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. file — a line of people
  20. degree — an amount
  21. current — happening now
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — humankind
  24. pound — for dogs

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