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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. degree — from a university
  6. rash — hasty
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. mine — for digging
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. clip — to cut
  13. degree — an amount
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. clip — a video
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. rash — a series

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