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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bore — to drill
  7. mine — for digging
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. chair — a leader
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bore — to tire
  14. cold — an illness
  15. key — the most important part
  16. key — in music
  17. degree — temperature
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. key — for a lock
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. mouse — the animal

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