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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. band — a ring
  3. chair — a leader
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. degree — an amount
  6. mark — a trace
  7. drill — the tool
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. ground — crushed
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. bear — the animal
  13. ground — a position
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. mark — a grade
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — from a university
  18. band — a music group
  19. bear — the animal
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. ground — the earth
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — army training

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