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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 · leaves · sharp · degree · stem · wax · firm · cabinet

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. stem — to come from
  3. firm — steady
  4. degree — from a university
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. chest — of your body
  8. degree — temperature
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. sharp — clever
  11. chest — a box
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. firm — decided
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. wax — to grow
  21. firm — a company
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. leaves — to go away

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