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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. content — the amount
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. chair — a leader
  8. key — in music
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. game — wild animals
  11. key — the most important part
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. key — for a lock
  14. degree — temperature
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. bass — the fish
  18. present — the time now
  19. present — there
  20. degree — an amount
  21. content — happy
  22. game — a match
  23. present — a gift
  24. bass — low music

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