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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 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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. can — a tin
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. degree — an amount
  7. pop — music
  8. pop — soda
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. can — to be able to
  11. can — a tin
  12. degree — temperature
  13. capital — money
  14. chest — of your body
  15. capital — a city
  16. bat — the animal
  17. press — to push
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pop — to visit
  21. press — a publisher
  22. branch — a division
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. press — newspapers

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