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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: swing · cap · degree · arm · rest · cold · chest · lean

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. chest — a box
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. rest — what's left
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rest — a break
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cap — a lid
  9. degree — temperature
  10. chest — of your body
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rest — what's left
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cap — a hat
  16. degree — an amount
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. swing — in golf
  19. degree — from a university
  20. swing — to play on
  21. lean — thin
  22. swing — music
  23. cap — of ice
  24. lean — to bend

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