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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mark — a trace
  3. file — a document
  4. lean — thin
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. chair — a leader
  8. pop — music
  9. capital — money
  10. degree — an amount
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. pop — to visit
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. mark — a grade
  16. capital — a city
  17. file — a tool
  18. degree — from a university
  19. file — a line of people
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. wax — to grow
  23. lean — to bend
  24. pop — soda

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