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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: trunk · game · rash · ground · degree · arm

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. ground — crushed
  4. rash — hasty
  5. degree — an amount
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. degree — from a university
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rash — a series
  10. ground — the earth
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. ground — a position
  13. degree — temperature
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. game — a match
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. trunk — of an elephant

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