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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: degree · scale · fan · snap · spell · chest

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. scale — in music
  4. snap — to click
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — temperature
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. spell — letters
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spell — a short time
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. chest — of your body
  13. degree — from a university
  14. spell — magic
  15. chest — a box
  16. degree — an amount
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — for weighing

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