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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. cell — in biology
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. bank — of a river
  5. cell — a phone
  6. hand — in cards
  7. degree — from a university
  8. season — of the year
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. wake — a trail
  12. bound — certain
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. chair — a leader
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bound — obliged
  18. bank — for money
  19. bound — tied together
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. degree — temperature
  22. season — in sport
  23. bank — for money
  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