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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. degree — from a university
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. degree — an amount
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. clip — for paper
  7. chair — a leader
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a hole
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. clip — to cut
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. clip — a video
  14. degree — temperature
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. game — wild animals
  17. pound — a weight
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. key — for a lock
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. game — a match
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. key — the most important part

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