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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. toast — bread
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bear — the animal
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. swing — to play on
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. march — the month
  11. degree — temperature
  12. swing — music
  13. bear — the animal
  14. fine — all right
  15. march — music
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fine — high quality
  19. chair — a leader
  20. march — the month
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. swing — in golf
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. cold — not warm

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