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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: cell · lean · chest · rest · degree · stem · racket · straw

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. rest — a break
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. lean — to bend
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — a phone
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. degree — an amount
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stem — to come from
  11. rest — what's left
  12. lean — thin
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. degree — temperature
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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