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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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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: wind · racket · date · degree · jam · arm · hand · rule

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  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. arm — part of the body
  2. hand — help
  3. degree — an amount
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. rule — a law
  7. date — the fruit
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. wind — moving air
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. wind — moving air
  14. degree — temperature
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rule — government
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. wind — to turn a key
  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