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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. cold — an illness
  4. branch — a division
  5. suit — in cards
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. bulb — for light
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. saw — the tool
  17. degree — temperature
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. suit — to fit
  21. bulb — for light
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. suit — clothes
  24. saw — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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