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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: firm · clip · pound · last · rest · scale · trunk · degree

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. rest — a break
  3. last — to go on
  4. firm — a company
  5. scale — size or range
  6. firm — steady
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. scale — in music
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. clip — for paper
  11. degree — temperature
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. rest — what's left
  14. degree — from a university
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. last — finally
  19. pound — a weight
  20. last — final
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. rest — what's left
  23. firm — decided
  24. degree — an amount

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