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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fall — to drop
  5. row — to paddle
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. fall — to drop
  8. chest — of your body
  9. lie — to recline
  10. spring — of water
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. row — a line
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. fall — the season
  17. spring — the season
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. spring — a coil
  20. degree — temperature
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. degree — an amount
  24. chest — a box

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