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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. prune — to trim
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bulb — for light
  12. prune — to trim
  13. capital — money
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. capital — a city
  17. chair — a leader
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bulb — for light
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pitcher — a jug

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