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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: bass · cell · degree · nail · rush · chest · kid · vault

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bass — the fish
  3. rush — hurry
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. vault — a safe
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — a box
  14. degree — an amount
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cell — a phone
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. degree — temperature
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bass — low music
  24. kid — child

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