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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: foot · arm · coach · rule · degree · cell

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  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. degree — an amount
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. foot — a measure
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — a law
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cell — a phone
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. rule — government
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cell — in biology
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  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