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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: cold · current · rule · root · fall · trunk · degree · race

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. current — electric
  4. root — of a word
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fall — to drop
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. race — humankind
  9. current — of water
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fall — the season
  13. cold — an illness
  14. rule — government
  15. rule — a law
  16. cold — not warm
  17. root — of a plant
  18. current — happening now
  19. race — the arms race
  20. fall — to drop
  21. root — the cause
  22. degree — an amount
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. race — a contest

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