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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 · clip · rule · stem · degree · deal · safe · rest

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. deal — to handle
  7. stem — to come from
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rest — a break
  12. rule — a law
  13. rest — what's left
  14. clip — to cut
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. rule — government
  21. rest — what's left
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. degree — temperature
  24. arm — a part of something

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