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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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Word bank
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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 · face · roll · straw · bass · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. bass — low music
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. face — to point toward
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. face — part of the head
  11. roll — a list
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. bass — the fish
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. chest — of your body
  17. roll — a cake
  18. face — to confront

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