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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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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 · chest · deal · rush · degree · saw · face · tube

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  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. rush — to hurry
  2. degree — temperature
  3. lean — thin
  4. chest — of your body
  5. face — to point toward
  6. saw — the tool
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. saw — the tool
  9. face — to confront
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rush — hurry
  13. lean — to bend
  14. tube — the underground
  15. degree — an amount
  16. deal — to handle
  17. tube — a container
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. face — part of the head
  21. chest — of your body
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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