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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. staff — employees
  6. face — part of the head
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. staff — employees
  9. band — a music group
  10. degree — temperature
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. face — to point toward
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. chair — a leader
  17. staff — a stick
  18. face — to confront
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. band — a ring
  22. dip — to sink
  23. wax — to grow
  24. wax — in the ear

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