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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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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: degree · net · cell · game · roll · race · foot · rule

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. race — a contest
  3. net — in sport
  4. roll — a list
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. game — a match
  9. rule — government
  10. net — for catching
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. race — humankind
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rule — a law
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. roll — a cake
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cell — in biology
  19. game — wild animals
  20. degree — from a university
  21. foot — a measure
  22. degree — temperature
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. net — after costs

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