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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: march · trunk · rash · mine · race · degree · arm · cap

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. march — music
  4. rash — hasty
  5. race — humankind
  6. march — the month
  7. cap — of ice
  8. march — the month
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. degree — from a university
  13. cap — a lid
  14. race — a contest
  15. degree — temperature
  16. mine — for digging
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. cap — a hat
  21. rash — a series
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. degree — an amount

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