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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. pop — to visit
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. land — to come down
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pop — music
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. pop — soda
  19. clip — to cut
  20. prune — to trim
  21. clip — a video
  22. land — a country
  23. prune — to trim
  24. clip — for paper

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