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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 · pitch · straw · tear · bound · tube · degree · branch

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. bound — certain
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. bound — tied together
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. degree — from a university
  9. tube — the underground
  10. degree — an amount
  11. branch — a division
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. bound — obliged
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. pitch — completely
  16. tube — a container
  17. chest — of your body
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — a box
  21. tear — from crying
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. tear — to rip
  24. branch — of a tree

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