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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: race · arm · trunk · rule · straw · squash · patient · degree

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. degree — from a university
  4. squash — the sport
  5. race — humankind
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. squash — to crush
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rule — government
  11. degree — temperature
  12. rule — a law
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. race — a contest
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. race — the arms race

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