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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: bank · tear · degree · snap · sharp · chest · root · last

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. tear — to rip
  3. last — final
  4. degree — an amount
  5. sharp — clever
  6. tear — from crying
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. chest — a box
  9. bank — for money
  10. root — of a plant
  11. last — to go on
  12. chest — of your body
  13. tear — from crying
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. root — of a word
  16. root — the cause
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to click
  20. bank — for money
  21. last — finally
  22. bank — of a river
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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