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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. scale — size or range
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. chair — a leader
  5. degree — from a university
  6. ground — a position
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bass — low music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. scale — in music
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. row — a line
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. ground — crushed
  21. ground — the earth
  22. perch — the fish
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bass — the fish

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