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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 120 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: temple · degree · chest · cell · plane · nail · chair · last

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. plane — a tool
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. last — to go on
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cell — a phone
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. last — finally
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. cell — in biology
  20. degree — from a university
  21. chest — a box
  22. degree — temperature
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. last — final

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