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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 116 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. degree — temperature
  3. chair — a leader
  4. present — a gift
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — an amount
  8. mine — for digging
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. land — to come down
  12. lean — thin
  13. lean — to bend
  14. present — the time now
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. present — there
  17. land — ground
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. rule — a law
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rule — government
  23. land — a country
  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