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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 · current · cell · degree · roll · row · club · object

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. object — to protest
  3. row — to paddle
  4. roll — a cake
  5. object — a thing
  6. club — a group
  7. race — a contest
  8. cell — a phone
  9. current — electric
  10. degree — from a university
  11. race — humankind
  12. object — an aim
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. roll — a list
  16. club — for dancing
  17. current — of water
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. race — the arms race
  20. cell — in biology
  21. current — happening now
  22. degree — temperature
  23. row — a line
  24. row — a quarrel

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