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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  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 — a leader
  2. degree — from a university
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — for catching
  5. shower — to wash
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. spring — of water
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. stand — to bear
  11. net — in sport
  12. spring — a coil
  13. degree — an amount
  14. mate — to breed
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. mate — a partner
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. spring — the season
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. shower — rain
  23. mate — a friend
  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