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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. chair — a leader
  4. wax — to grow
  5. bound — certain
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. degree — an amount
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. rock — a stone
  13. degree — temperature
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. bound — tied together
  16. club — for golf
  17. mine — for digging
  18. club — for dancing
  19. club — a group
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bound — obliged
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. degree — from a university
  24. chair — a professorship

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