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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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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: lean · bore · wake · chest · kid · degree · pop · march

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. degree — from a university
  4. chest — a box
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pop — to visit
  9. degree — an amount
  10. pop — soda
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. bore — to drill
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bore — to tire
  17. march — music
  18. kid — child
  19. lean — to bend
  20. lean — thin
  21. pop — music
  22. wake — a trail
  23. march — the month
  24. chest — of your body

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