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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  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. present — a gift
  2. bat — the animal
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. degree — an amount
  5. present — the time now
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. degree — from a university
  8. face — to confront
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. row — a line
  14. face — part of the head
  15. stock — shares
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. row — to paddle
  18. stock — goods
  19. face — to point toward
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. present — there
  23. row — a quarrel
  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