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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. shower — rain
  3. swing — to play on
  4. wound — an injury
  5. degree — from a university
  6. staff — employees
  7. swing — in golf
  8. mate — to breed
  9. degree — temperature
  10. chair — a leader
  11. mate — a friend
  12. staff — a stick
  13. staff — employees
  14. mate — a partner
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. swing — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bear — the animal
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. bear — the animal
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. chair — to sit on

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