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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. capital — money
  6. saw — the tool
  7. chest — a box
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cap — a lid
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. cap — a hat
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. rest — what's left
  15. bark — to shout
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cap — of ice
  20. degree — an amount
  21. chest — of your body
  22. branch — a division
  23. capital — a city
  24. rest — a break

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