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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. degree — an amount
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. branch — a division
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. rash — a series
  8. spell — magic
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bass — low music
  15. spell — letters
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. degree — from a university
  19. chair — a leader
  20. wake — a trail
  21. rash — hasty
  22. spell — a short time
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. degree — temperature

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