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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. bear — the animal
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. clip — a video
  7. plane — a tool
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. degree — an amount
  10. capital — money
  11. clip — to cut
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. content — happy
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bear — the animal
  24. content — the amount

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