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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. tear — from crying
  4. game — wild animals
  5. object — to protest
  6. tear — to rip
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. degree — an amount
  10. prune — to trim
  11. object — an aim
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. prune — to trim
  14. chair — a leader
  15. present — the time now
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. present — there
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. game — a match
  20. present — a gift
  21. object — a thing
  22. tear — from crying
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. degree — temperature

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