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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 120 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: snap · arm · game · net · rule · trunk · bulb · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. net — in sport
  3. degree — from a university
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. net — after costs
  9. snap — to click
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. bulb — for light
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. rule — a law
  14. degree — temperature
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. game — wild animals
  18. rule — government
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. game — a match
  23. bulb — for light
  24. net — for catching

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