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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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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 · degree · saw · capital · patient · snap · kick · temple

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. degree — an amount
  5. snap — to click
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. kick — in football
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. degree — temperature
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. degree — from a university
  19. capital — a city
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — a contest
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. capital — money

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