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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wound — an injury
  3. chest — a box
  4. degree — from a university
  5. firm — decided
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wound — an injury
  8. can — a tin
  9. chest — of your body
  10. firm — steady
  11. can — to be able to
  12. snap — to click
  13. firm — a company
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. degree — temperature
  17. can — a tin
  18. last — final
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. last — to go on
  21. band — a ring
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. last — finally
  24. band — a music group

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