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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · fall · chest · spring · net · temple · lean · saw

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. net — for catching
  3. chest — of your body
  4. net — in sport
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spring — a coil
  8. net — after costs
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. degree — an amount
  14. lean — thin
  15. spring — the season
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. saw — the tool
  18. degree — temperature
  19. chest — a box
  20. fall — the season
  21. lean — to bend
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. spring — of water
  24. chest — of your body

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