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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pass — a permit
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. date — the fruit
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. degree — an amount
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. tear — from crying
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. degree — temperature
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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