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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: plane · ground · degree · arm · race · rest · capital · wind

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  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. degree — from a university
  2. rest — what's left
  3. degree — temperature
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. ground — a position
  11. capital — a city
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. capital — money
  14. rest — a break
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. degree — an amount
  18. race — a contest
  19. rest — what's left
  20. plane — a tool
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. race — the arms race
  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