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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: drill · bat · chair · temple · chest · foot · degree · mate

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. chair — a leader
  3. mate — a friend
  4. degree — temperature
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. chest — a box
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. degree — an amount
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. foot — a measure
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. degree — from a university
  14. chest — of your body
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — the tool
  17. bat — the animal
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. mate — a partner
  23. drill — army training
  24. mate — to breed

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