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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: wake · cap · file · race · degree · mate

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mate — a friend
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. degree — from a university
  7. file — a document
  8. race — the arms race
  9. cap — a hat
  10. race — a contest
  11. file — a tool
  12. mate — to breed
  13. wake — a trail
  14. degree — an amount
  15. race — humankind
  16. cap — of ice
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mate — a partner

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