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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. chair — a leader
  3. pass — a permit
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. degree — from a university
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. perch — the fish
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. stock — shares
  12. rash — a series
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. stock — goods
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. degree — temperature
  24. pass — to succeed

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