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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. game — a match
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. board — a committee
  6. spring — a coil
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. cue — for pool
  9. prune — to trim
  10. board — to get on
  11. spring — of water
  12. cue — a hint
  13. degree — temperature
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cue — a signal
  19. degree — from a university
  20. game — wild animals
  21. spring — the season
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. degree — an amount
  24. chair — a leader

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