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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: foot · last · hide · race · clip · rule · degree · bark

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. last — finally
  3. rule — government
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. last — to go on
  6. rule — a law
  7. race — the arms race
  8. clip — a video
  9. race — humankind
  10. degree — temperature
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. last — final
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. clip — to cut
  15. foot — a measure
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. race — a contest
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bark — to shout
  24. foot — part of the body

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