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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: can · kid · ground · row · foot · race · hand · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. race — humankind
  3. can — to be able to
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. can — a tin
  6. degree — an amount
  7. race — the arms race
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. ground — the earth
  10. race — a contest
  11. ground — a position
  12. degree — temperature
  13. can — a tin
  14. ground — crushed
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — to tease
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. row — to paddle
  20. foot — a measure
  21. row — a line
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — in cards

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