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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: calf · court · fork · file · race · kick · degree · lie

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. file — a tool
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. race — the arms race
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. lie — to recline
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. race — a contest
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. court — of a king
  12. fork — in a road
  13. court — of law
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. file — a line of people
  18. kick — in football
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. file — a document
  24. race — humankind

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