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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 · degree · staff · pound · toast · ground

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. ground — the earth
  5. staff — employees
  6. chest — a box
  7. ground — crushed
  8. staff — a stick
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pound — a weight
  11. ground — a position
  12. degree — an amount
  13. chest — of your body
  14. toast — bread
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. staff — employees
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. toast — a drink to someone

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