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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · degree · tube · prune · game · rash · key · clip

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. chest — of your body
  4. clip — for paper
  5. game — wild animals
  6. degree — temperature
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. key — in music
  9. rash — hasty
  10. game — a match
  11. clip — to cut
  12. key — the most important part
  13. key — for a lock
  14. prune — to trim
  15. degree — an amount
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. rash — a series
  21. chest — a box
  22. degree — from a university
  23. clip — a video
  24. tube — the underground

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