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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. rash — hasty
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chair — a leader
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. clip — to cut
  7. degree — from a university
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. degree — temperature
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — goods
  12. vault — a safe
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. chip — to eat
  15. chip — for betting
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. clip — for paper
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. stock — shares
  23. clip — a video
  24. rash — a series

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