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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. degree — temperature
  3. scale — in music
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. chest — a box
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. degree — from a university
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. degree — an amount
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. content — the amount
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. clip — a video
  21. scale — size or range
  22. toast — bread
  23. plane — a tool
  24. chest — of your 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