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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: mark · bowl · degree · file · present · racket · hand · kid

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — there
  6. hand — help
  7. present — the time now
  8. kid — to tease
  9. degree — an amount
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. file — a line of people
  12. degree — temperature
  13. file — a document
  14. mark — a grade
  15. degree — from a university
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. kid — child
  20. file — a tool
  21. hand — in cards
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. bowl — a football final

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