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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lean · chest · sharp · degree · fork · face · prune · pop

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pop — soda
  3. fork — in a road
  4. pop — music
  5. face — part of the head
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. pop — to visit
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. degree — an amount
  10. lean — to bend
  11. lean — thin
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. face — to point toward
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. face — to confront
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — clever
  23. degree — temperature
  24. fork — to eat with

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