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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
468
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: pitcher · leaves · kid · clip · degree · chest · scale · saw

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. scale — size or range
  3. scale — in music
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. kid — to tease
  6. clip — for paper
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — a video
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. kid — child
  15. degree — from a university
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. saw — the tool
  19. degree — an amount
  20. saw — the tool
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. chest — a box
  24. leaves — lets stay

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