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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: race · arm · bound · degree · game · clip · face · dip

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — to confront
  3. bound — tied together
  4. clip — for paper
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bound — obliged
  7. clip — to cut
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. race — the arms race
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. degree — from a university
  13. race — humankind
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. degree — an amount
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. dip — to sink
  18. game — a match
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bound — certain
  21. clip — a video
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. race — a contest
  24. game — wild animals

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