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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: kid · mate · squash · degree · season · arm · lash · march

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. squash — to crush
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. march — music
  7. mate — to breed
  8. march — the month
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. degree — an amount
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. mate — a friend
  14. march — the month
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — of the year
  17. kid — to tease
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. squash — the sport
  22. degree — temperature
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. mate — a partner

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