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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: rest · firm · rush · degree · chest · chair · ruler · clip

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. rest — what's left
  3. firm — a company
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rest — what's left
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. firm — decided
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. chair — a leader
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. chest — a box
  20. rest — a break
  21. clip — a video
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. firm — steady
  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