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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: march · chest · charge · club · tear · bulb · rule · degree

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. charge — electricity
  4. march — the month
  5. rule — a law
  6. degree — an amount
  7. tear — from crying
  8. degree — temperature
  9. march — the month
  10. bulb — for light
  11. charge — in control
  12. rule — government
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. degree — from a university
  15. tear — from crying
  16. charge — a price
  17. tear — to rip
  18. club — for dancing
  19. march — music
  20. chest — a box
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. club — for golf
  24. club — a group

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