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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pit — a hole
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. bear — the animal
  9. ground — a position
  10. drill — a practice
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. degree — from a university
  14. drill — the tool
  15. bear — the animal
  16. key — for a lock
  17. chair — a leader
  18. fall — to drop
  19. key — the most important part
  20. drill — army training
  21. key — in music
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. degree — temperature

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