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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. toast — a drink to someone
  2. row — a line
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. rash — hasty
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. row — to paddle
  8. rash — a series
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. degree — temperature
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. toast — bread
  15. hand — help
  16. degree — an amount
  17. snap — to click
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. hand — in cards
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. degree — from a university
  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