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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. degree — temperature
  10. scale — size or range
  11. tube — a container
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. saw — the tool
  16. court — of law
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. tube — the underground
  19. scale — in music
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. dip — to sink
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. degree — from a university

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