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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 120 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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bear — the animal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. mine — for digging
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. tube — the underground
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wake — a trail
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. degree — an amount
  20. chair — a leader
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — not warm
  24. tube — a container

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