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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: content · stock · wound · chest · degree · cell · fall · wake

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. degree — from a university
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. chest — of your body
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. degree — an amount
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — a phone
  14. fall — to drop
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. fall — to drop
  17. content — happy
  18. stock — goods
  19. content — the amount
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chest — a box
  22. stock — shares
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. fall — the season

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