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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 120 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: deal · prune · degree · bowl · chest · rest · file · snap

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. prune — to trim
  3. degree — temperature
  4. file — a line of people
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. prune — to trim
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. file — a document
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. rest — what's left
  15. snap — to click
  16. file — a tool
  17. rest — what's left
  18. degree — from a university
  19. deal — to handle
  20. rest — a break
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. deal — an agreement

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