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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. squash — to crush
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. squash — the sport
  10. degree — from a university
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. bore — to tire
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. rash — a series
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. game — a match
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bore — to drill
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. rash — hasty
  23. degree — an amount
  24. game — wild animals

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