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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. fine — high quality
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. ground — crushed
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. wind — moving air
  10. lie — to recline
  11. squash — the sport
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. ground — the earth
  14. degree — temperature
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. ground — a position
  17. chair — a leader
  18. fine — all right
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chest — a box

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