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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: root · degree · file · temple · race · capital

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. file — a document
  3. race — humankind
  4. degree — an amount
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. root — of a word
  7. race — a contest
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. file — a tool
  11. race — the arms race
  12. root — of a plant
  13. capital — money
  14. degree — temperature
  15. file — a line of people
  16. degree — from a university
  17. root — the cause
  18. temple — a place of worship

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