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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 120 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: degree · chest · pound · spring · object · wake · current · race

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. current — electric
  4. current — happening now
  5. chest — of your body
  6. race — the arms race
  7. spring — of water
  8. object — an aim
  9. degree — an amount
  10. object — a thing
  11. race — humankind
  12. current — of water
  13. object — to protest
  14. wake — a trail
  15. pound — a weight
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — temperature
  19. spring — the season
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. race — a contest
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. spring — a coil
  24. chest — a box

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