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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: bark · temple · race · face · file · degree · squash · trunk

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bark — to shout
  4. face — part of the head
  5. race — a contest
  6. squash — the sport
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. file — a document
  9. degree — from a university
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. degree — temperature
  18. face — to confront
  19. face — to point toward
  20. squash — to crush
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. race — humankind
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a tool

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