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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: race · degree · scale · rest · arm · chest

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. degree — from a university
  3. chest — of your body
  4. scale — in music
  5. race — a contest
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. chest — of your body
  9. race — the arms race
  10. degree — an amount
  11. rest — what's left
  12. race — humankind
  13. rest — a break
  14. chest — a box
  15. scale — size or range
  16. degree — temperature
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. rest — what's left

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