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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. degree — temperature
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bark — to shout
  5. degree — from a university
  6. court — for sport
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. chair — a leader
  11. rest — a break
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. court — of law
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. court — of a king
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. bore — to drill
  21. rest — what's left
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. bore — to tire

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