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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: temple · wind · field · coach · degree · object · chest · rest

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. object — an aim
  3. chest — of your body
  4. object — a thing
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. wind — moving air
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. field — a subject
  9. rest — a break
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. object — to protest
  13. chest — a box
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rest — what's left
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. degree — from a university
  19. rest — what's left
  20. field — for sport
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. field — farmland
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. temple — a place of worship

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