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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: bore · file · ball · racket · race · degree · chair · object

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. file — a tool
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. race — humankind
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. object — a thing
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. ball — a great time
  16. degree — from a university
  17. file — a document
  18. object — an aim
  19. bore — to tire
  20. degree — an amount
  21. race — a contest
  22. bore — to drill
  23. ball — a dance
  24. file — a line of people

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