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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — a leader
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. mate — a partner
  6. drill — the tool
  7. rock — a stone
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. drill — army training
  11. mate — to breed
  12. degree — an amount
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. degree — temperature
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. rock — music
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. mate — a friend
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — rain
  23. drill — a practice
  24. degree — from a university

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