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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. tear — to rip
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — to eat
  6. spring — the season
  7. degree — an amount
  8. spring — of water
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. degree — from a university
  11. chair — a leader
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. mine — for digging
  15. chip — for betting
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. degree — temperature
  22. tear — from crying
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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