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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: net · race · ruler · coach · degree · bat

  1. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. degree — an amount
  3. net — for catching
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bat — the animal
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. net — in sport
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. race — humankind
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. degree — temperature
  15. net — after costs
  16. degree — from a university
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race

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