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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 116 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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. degree — temperature
  4. key — the most important part
  5. key — in music
  6. rule — a law
  7. clip — a video
  8. court — for sport
  9. clip — to cut
  10. key — for a lock
  11. court — of law
  12. bound — obliged
  13. chair — a leader
  14. court — of a king
  15. degree — an amount
  16. rule — government
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bound — tied together
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bound — certain

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