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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 120 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: cue · degree · mate · root · kid · race · trunk · shower

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. kid — to tease
  3. root — of a plant
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. degree — temperature
  7. root — of a word
  8. cue — a signal
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. race — the arms race
  12. mate — a partner
  13. race — humankind
  14. kid — child
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. shower — to wash
  18. root — the cause
  19. race — a contest
  20. degree — from a university
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a friend
  23. cue — for pool
  24. degree — an amount

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