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

Word bank: race · bulb · degree · ground · kick · kid

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. kick — in football
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. bulb — for light
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ground — a position
  14. race — a contest
  15. ground — crushed
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — the arms race
  18. degree — from a university

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