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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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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: coach · arm · clip · wind · kid · plane · degree · calf

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. clip — for paper
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. clip — a video
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. kid — to tease
  12. clip — to cut
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. plane — a tool
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. degree — an amount
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. kid — child

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