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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. 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. chair — to sit on
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. spring — of water
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. mine — for digging
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. degree — an amount
  9. stem — to come from
  10. spring — the season
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. can — to be able to
  13. degree — temperature
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. ball — a dance
  16. can — a tin
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. pass — a permit
  21. spring — a coil
  22. chair — a leader
  23. can — a tin
  24. 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