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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 124 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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. tear — from crying
  3. degree — an amount
  4. craft — boats
  5. drill — a practice
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — crushed
  9. drill — the tool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. key — the most important part
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. ground — the earth
  14. drill — army training
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. craft — a skill
  19. degree — temperature
  20. tear — to rip
  21. key — for a lock
  22. key — in music
  23. tear — from crying
  24. racket — for tennis

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