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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: degree · arm · jam · chip · clip · tear · hide · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. clip — a video
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. clip — to cut
  5. tear — from crying
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. chip — for betting
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tear — to rip
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. tear — from crying
  14. degree — an amount
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. degree — from a university
  18. clip — for paper
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. race — the arms race
  21. chip — to eat
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. race — humankind

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