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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. degree — from a university
  3. court — for sport
  4. degree — an amount
  5. squash — to crush
  6. court — of law
  7. degree — temperature
  8. key — the most important part
  9. key — for a lock
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chair — a leader
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. court — of a king
  14. key — in music
  15. wake — a trail
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. squash — the sport
  22. lie — to recline
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. squash — the vegetable

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