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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: face · root · capital · kid · degree · race · rule · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. root — of a word
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. root — of a plant
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. capital — money
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rule — government
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. rule — a law
  15. capital — a city
  16. face — to point toward
  17. race — a contest
  18. face — part of the head
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — humankind
  21. root — the cause
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — temperature
  24. face — to confront

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