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

Word bank: snap · chest · stem · kid · vault · degree

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. kid — child
  4. chest — of your body
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — an amount
  8. vault — a safe
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. degree — temperature
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. snap — to click
  16. chest — a box
  17. kid — to tease
  18. stem — to come from

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