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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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rule — government
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — a partner
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. degree — temperature
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bank — of a river
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. bank — for money
  18. degree — from a university
  19. perch — the fish
  20. mate — to breed
  21. rule — a law
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. bank — for money
  24. rule — to rule out

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