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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. track — to keep track
  4. key — the most important part
  5. clip — to cut
  6. craft — boats
  7. key — in music
  8. track — a song
  9. degree — temperature
  10. object — to protest
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. key — for a lock
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. degree — from a university
  15. track — a path
  16. degree — an amount
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. object — an aim
  19. craft — a skill
  20. object — a thing
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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