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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 112 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. bank — of a river
  4. land — to come down
  5. mine — for digging
  6. land — ground
  7. bank — for money
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bank — for money
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. degree — from a university
  16. land — a country
  17. chair — a leader
  18. trunk — of a tree

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