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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. stand — to bear
  5. snap — to click
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a leader
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. mine — for digging
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. mine — belonging to me

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