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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. degree — from a university
  6. prune — to trim
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. season — in sport
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. suit — in cards
  11. prune — to trim
  12. lean — thin
  13. court — of a king
  14. degree — an amount
  15. suit — clothes
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. court — for sport
  19. lean — to bend
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. season — of the year
  22. court — of law
  23. degree — temperature
  24. snap — to click

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