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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: row · leaves · chest · hand · ground · scale · safe · degree

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chest — of your body
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. hand — in cards
  5. degree — temperature
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. degree — from a university
  8. ground — the earth
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. scale — in music
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. chest — a box
  13. ground — crushed
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. chest — of your body
  17. ground — a position
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. row — a line
  20. scale — size or range
  21. row — to paddle
  22. hand — help
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. leaves — to go away

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