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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: staff · degree · fall · chest · dip · mark · saw · bound

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  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. fall — to drop
  3. saw — the tool
  4. degree — temperature
  5. mark — a trace
  6. dip — to sink
  7. mark — a grade
  8. staff — a stick
  9. fall — to drop
  10. staff — employees
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — an amount
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. bound — tied together
  15. fall — the season
  16. staff — employees
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bound — obliged
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. bound — certain
  21. chest — a box
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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