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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. can — to be able to
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. degree — an amount
  5. season — of the year
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. chair — a leader
  8. file — a line of people
  9. game — wild animals
  10. file — a tool
  11. game — a match
  12. file — a document
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. toast — bread
  16. foot — a measure
  17. can — a tin
  18. degree — temperature
  19. can — a tin
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. season — in sport
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. foot — part of the body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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