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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: chest · face · kick · race · racket · board · stock · degree

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. degree — an amount
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — goods
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. stock — shares
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. face — to point toward
  10. race — a contest
  11. board — a committee
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. chest — of your body
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. degree — from a university
  19. kick — in football
  20. face — to confront
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. face — part of the head
  23. board — to get on
  24. race — the arms race

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