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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cap — a hat
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. degree — an amount
  6. chair — a leader
  7. game — wild animals
  8. club — for dancing
  9. game — a match
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cap — a lid
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. club — for golf
  15. club — a group
  16. rash — hasty
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. board — to get on
  19. rash — a series
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. degree — from a university
  23. board — a committee
  24. cap — of ice

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