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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 120 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mate — to breed
  3. bound — certain
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. degree — an amount
  6. press — newspapers
  7. mate — a friend
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. rash — a series
  12. bound — obliged
  13. press — a publisher
  14. chair — a leader
  15. mate — a partner
  16. degree — temperature
  17. last — finally
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. press — to push
  24. bound — tied together

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