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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · pitcher · ruler · bound · cell · prune · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bound — obliged
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. cell — a phone
  6. chest — a box
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cell — in biology
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bound — tied together
  15. spell — magic
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. chest — of your body
  18. prune — to trim
  19. degree — from a university
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spell — a short time
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. bound — certain

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