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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — rain
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. land — a country
  6. degree — an amount
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. chair — a leader
  9. degree — temperature
  10. land — ground
  11. cap — of ice
  12. land — to come down
  13. cap — a hat
  14. content — happy
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. content — the amount
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. cap — a lid
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. degree — from a university
  24. arm — a part of something

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