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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — a leader
  3. drill — a practice
  4. charge — electricity
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. degree — from a university
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. race — the arms race
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. drill — army training
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — after costs
  15. charge — in control
  16. mine — for digging
  17. net — in sport
  18. race — a contest
  19. drill — the tool
  20. race — humankind
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. degree — an amount
  23. charge — a price
  24. degree — temperature

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