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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: band · degree · wax · rule · race · arm

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. race — a contest
  3. degree — temperature
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. wax — to grow
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. race — the arms race
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rule — government
  14. band — a ring
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. race — humankind
  18. arm — a part of something

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