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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cell — in biology
  4. chair — a leader
  5. stand — to bear
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. ground — crushed
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. file — a document
  14. cell — a phone
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. ground — a position
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. degree — temperature
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. foot — a measure
  21. degree — from a university
  22. file — a line of people
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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