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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: bark · swing · face · foot · rash · arm · degree · race

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — to play on
  4. degree — an amount
  5. race — a contest
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. bark — to shout
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. rash — hasty
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — the arms race
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. face — to point toward
  15. degree — from a university
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. foot — a measure
  18. rash — a series
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. face — part of the head
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. swing — music

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