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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. suit — in cards
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. chair — a leader
  9. sharp — clever
  10. degree — temperature
  11. row — to paddle
  12. stand — to bear
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. cold — not warm
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. degree — from a university
  18. row — a line
  19. kick — in football
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. suit — clothes
  24. stand — for spectators

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