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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. clip — to cut
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. content — the amount
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stem — to come from
  10. chair — a leader
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. degree — from a university
  13. clip — a video
  14. press — to push
  15. press — a publisher
  16. wake — a trail
  17. lean — to bend
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. degree — an amount
  20. press — newspapers
  21. degree — temperature
  22. content — happy
  23. lean — thin
  24. chair — to sit on

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