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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. pitch — completely
  4. mine — for digging
  5. scale — in music
  6. key — for a lock
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. key — in music
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. current — happening now
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — temperature
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. key — the most important part
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. scale — size or range
  20. current — of water
  21. current — electric
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pitch — a sports field

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