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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. race — a contest
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. tear — from crying
  5. file — a document
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. kid — child
  8. degree — from a university
  9. tear — from crying
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. race — humankind
  12. squash — to crush
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. file — a tool
  15. file — a line of people
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. tear — to rip
  19. race — the arms race
  20. squash — the sport
  21. degree — an amount
  22. kid — to tease
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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