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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: roll · craft · degree · chest · wound · scale · stand · pound

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. craft — boats
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chest — a box
  6. scale — in music
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chest — of your body
  10. roll — a cake
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. scale — size or range
  17. pound — a weight
  18. chest — of your body
  19. degree — from a university
  20. craft — a skill
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — on a roll

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