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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: race · rock · degree · fine · trunk · squash · cue · kid

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  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. trunk — of a car
  2. degree — temperature
  3. cue — a hint
  4. race — humankind
  5. rock — music
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. fine — all right
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. squash — to crush
  11. fine — high quality
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cue — a signal
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. race — a contest
  21. race — the arms race
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. squash — the sport
  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