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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. toast — bread
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. stem — to come from
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. stand — to bear
  13. degree — an amount
  14. land — ground
  15. chair — a leader
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. land — a country
  19. degree — temperature
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. land — to come down
  22. wound — an injury
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — in cards

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