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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. ground — crushed
  4. degree — temperature
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. degree — from a university
  7. date — the fruit
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. track — a path
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. ground — a position
  14. track — a song
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. chair — a leader
  18. ground — the earth
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. track — to keep track
  22. degree — an amount
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. sharp — clever

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