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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. mate — a friend
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. rock — music
  8. last — finally
  9. mate — a partner
  10. rock — a stone
  11. mate — to breed
  12. degree — temperature
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. degree — from a university
  16. field — for sport
  17. degree — an amount
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. last — to go on
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. sharp — clever
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. fan — a supporter

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