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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 120 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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. land — to come down
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pit — in a race
  8. lean — to bend
  9. cell — in biology
  10. chair — a leader
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pit — a hole
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. sharp — clever
  20. land — a country
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. cell — a phone
  23. land — ground
  24. bowl — to roll

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