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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: degree · perch · board · last · stem · capital · chest · arm

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  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. last — to go on
  3. stem — to come from
  4. chest — a box
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. board — to get on
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. board — a committee
  11. degree — an amount
  12. last — finally
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. capital — money
  16. degree — from a university
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. last — final
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. perch — the fish
  23. degree — temperature
  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