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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. perch — the fish
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. land — ground
  5. current — electric
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. degree — an amount
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. scale — in music
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. tube — a container
  13. tube — the underground
  14. land — a country
  15. land — to come down
  16. scale — size or range
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. current — happening now
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. degree — from a university
  21. current — of water
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. degree — temperature

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