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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: object · capital · chest · degree · last · scale · press · hand

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. hand — help
  3. object — a thing
  4. degree — temperature
  5. scale — size or range
  6. object — to protest
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. press — newspapers
  9. chest — of your body
  10. object — an aim
  11. degree — an amount
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. scale — in music
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. last — finally
  18. press — a publisher
  19. last — to go on
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. press — to push
  22. last — final
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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