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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.

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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: degree · rest · snap · chest · saw · stem · ground · last

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. snap — to click
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. ground — a position
  5. rest — a break
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. last — finally
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. saw — the tool
  11. ground — the earth
  12. stem — to come from
  13. rest — what's left
  14. ground — crushed
  15. last — final
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — an amount
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rest — what's left
  22. last — to go on
  23. degree — temperature
  24. saw — the tool

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