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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. wax — to grow
  12. degree — temperature
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. foot — a measure
  17. degree — from a university
  18. rush — hurry
  19. snap — to click
  20. chest — a box
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  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