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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 · rule · bound · date · cell · degree

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. date — the fruit
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — in biology
  5. degree — an amount
  6. rule — a law
  7. race — a contest
  8. bound — obliged
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. degree — from a university
  12. race — the arms race
  13. bound — certain
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. cell — a phone
  16. rule — government
  17. race — humankind
  18. degree — temperature

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