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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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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: roll · chest · degree · rule · cap · prune · kid · net

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. cap — of ice
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cap — a lid
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. roll — a list
  7. rule — a law
  8. cap — a hat
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chest — of your body
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. prune — to trim
  13. degree — temperature
  14. net — after costs
  15. net — for catching
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — government
  18. degree — an amount
  19. roll — a cake
  20. net — in sport
  21. degree — from a university
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  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