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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: snap · cabinet · chest · spring · fan · degree · stand · foot

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. degree — an amount
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. degree — from a university
  8. chest — of your body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. snap — to click
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. degree — temperature
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. spring — of water
  16. stand — to bear
  17. chest — a box
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. chest — of your body
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. fan — a supporter

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