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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: chair · nail · rule · chest · cabinet · degree

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. rule — a law
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. degree — temperature
  9. rule — government
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. degree — an amount
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chest — of your body
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. chest — a box
  18. degree — from a university

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