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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 116 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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. degree — from a university
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. key — for a lock
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rash — a series
  11. rush — hurry
  12. chair — a leader
  13. key — the most important part
  14. degree — an amount
  15. hand — help
  16. fall — to drop
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. key — in music
  19. fall — the season
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hand — in cards
  22. rash — hasty
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. chair — a professorship

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