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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: chest · chip · nail · ground · scale · degree · lie · kick

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. ground — a position
  5. chest — of your body
  6. scale — size or range
  7. degree — an amount
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. chip — for betting
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chip — to eat
  13. degree — from a university
  14. kick — in football
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. lie — to recline
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — in music
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. chest — a box
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — the earth

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