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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: chest · wake · chip · present · degree · rush · cap · march

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wake — a trail
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. march — the month
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. cap — a hat
  11. degree — from a university
  12. chest — a box
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. degree — temperature
  15. present — the time now
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chip — to eat
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. present — there
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. chip — for betting
  22. rush — hurry
  23. march — the month
  24. march — music

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