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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: branch · club · degree · kick · stem · race · wax · file

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  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. race — humankind
  2. kick — in football
  3. file — a tool
  4. degree — an amount
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. race — a contest
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. wax — to grow
  12. club — for golf
  13. file — a document
  14. degree — from a university
  15. club — for dancing
  16. stem — to come from
  17. club — a group
  18. race — the arms race
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. degree — temperature
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. branch — a division
  23. wax — for sculpting
  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