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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: arm · rule · kid · race · clip · vault · can · degree

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. rule — government
  4. degree — temperature
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. race — a contest
  7. vault — in gymnastics
  8. can — a tin
  9. kid — child
  10. degree — an amount
  11. race — the arms race
  12. clip — a video
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. clip — for paper
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. kid — to tease
  19. can — a tin
  20. clip — to cut
  21. can — to be able to
  22. race — humankind
  23. rule — a law
  24. degree — from a university

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