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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · rest · tube · capital · degree · present

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. capital — money
  3. rest — a break
  4. degree — from a university
  5. present — the time now
  6. rest — what's left
  7. degree — temperature
  8. present — there
  9. rest — what's left
  10. present — a gift
  11. chest — of your body
  12. tube — a container
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. chest — a box
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. chest — of your body
  17. tube — the underground
  18. capital — a city

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