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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. degree — an amount
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — in sport
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cue — for pool
  10. wake — a trail
  11. fork — in a road
  12. chair — a leader
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. cue — a hint
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. net — for catching
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cue — a signal
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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