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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 · rule · bound · date · cell · degree · bark · cap

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. race — the arms race
  7. degree — from a university
  8. date — the fruit
  9. rule — government
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cap — a hat
  12. degree — an amount
  13. race — a contest
  14. cell — in biology
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bound — certain
  17. bound — obliged
  18. race — humankind
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bound — tied together
  23. rule — a law
  24. cap — a lid

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