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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. cap — a lid
  3. sharp — clever
  4. perch — the fish
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chair — a leader
  10. degree — an amount
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. cap — a hat
  13. current — electric
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. degree — temperature
  16. current — of water
  17. cap — of ice
  18. degree — from a university

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