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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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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: kid · file · rock · club · row · degree · race · face

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. face — to point toward
  4. kid — to tease
  5. rock — music
  6. face — part of the head
  7. race — a contest
  8. kid — child
  9. degree — from a university
  10. file — a line of people
  11. race — humankind
  12. club — for golf
  13. file — a tool
  14. race — the arms race
  15. row — to paddle
  16. file — a document
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. row — a line
  19. degree — temperature
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. face — to confront
  22. club — for dancing
  23. degree — an amount
  24. rock — a stone

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