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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: lean · firm · chest · cell · degree · band

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. band — a music group
  3. firm — a company
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cell — a phone
  7. lean — to bend
  8. chest — of your body
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — from a university
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. band — a ring
  15. cell — in biology
  16. chest — a box
  17. lean — thin
  18. firm — steady

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