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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: degree · chest · cue · leaves · wake · trunk · rock · kid

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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 — from a university
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cue — a hint
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. chest — a box
  6. rock — music
  7. cue — a signal
  8. wake — a trail
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. cue — for pool
  11. degree — an amount
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — child
  15. rock — a stone
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. chest — of your body
  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