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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: stick · arm · file · race · wave · lean · degree · kid

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. kid — child
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to bend
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. degree — an amount
  10. race — the arms race
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. race — humankind
  15. file — a document
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. kid — to tease
  18. race — a contest
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. degree — temperature

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