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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 120 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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. scale — in music
  4. clip — for paper
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the sport
  7. mate — a friend
  8. scale — size or range
  9. mate — a partner
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. degree — from a university
  12. mate — to breed
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. clip — to cut
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. degree — an amount
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. degree — temperature
  23. clip — a video
  24. chair — a leader

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