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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 116 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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. degree — from a university
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. degree — temperature
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rash — a series
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. spring — of water
  11. degree — an amount
  12. spring — a coil
  13. season — of the year
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. rash — hasty
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. spring — the season
  20. season — in sport
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. chair — a leader
  24. calf — a young animal

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