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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 · trunk · degree · mate · tear · wave

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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. degree — temperature
  2. mate — a partner
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. mate — a friend
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — to rip
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. mate — to breed
  15. degree — an amount
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. chest — of your body
  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