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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. kid — to tease
  3. degree — an amount
  4. prune — to trim
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. prune — to trim
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. degree — temperature
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. degree — from a university
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. mark — a trace
  23. kid — child
  24. chair — a leader

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