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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. land — to come down
  3. degree — an amount
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. land — ground
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. degree — from a university
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. foot — a measure
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. clip — to cut
  18. degree — temperature
  19. land — a country
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — soda
  23. pop — to visit
  24. chair — a leader

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