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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: bay · degree · cell · wind · hand · track · chest · stand

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. hand — help
  3. chest — of your body
  4. stand — to bear
  5. track — to keep track
  6. track — a path
  7. wind — moving air
  8. chest — a box
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. degree — an amount
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chest — of your body
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. degree — from a university
  19. track — a song
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. cell — a phone
  23. hand — in cards
  24. hand — part of the body

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