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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. chair — a leader
  3. degree — from a university
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. degree — an amount
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. fall — to drop
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bat — the animal
  11. band — a music group
  12. suit — to fit
  13. suit — clothes
  14. suit — in cards
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. degree — temperature
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. band — a ring
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. fall — the season

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