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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wax — to grow
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. roll — a list
  6. club — for dancing
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. degree — temperature
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. season — in sport
  14. file — a tool
  15. degree — from a university
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — a group
  18. season — of the year
  19. chair — a leader
  20. cell — in biology
  21. roll — a cake
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. cell — a phone
  24. wax — for sculpting

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