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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. perch — the fish
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pound — a weight
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pop — soda
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pop — to visit
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. degree — temperature
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. chair — a leader
  18. lie — to recline
  19. drill — the tool
  20. pop — music
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. degree — an amount
  23. drill — army training
  24. chair — a professorship

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