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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. race — a contest
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. board — to get on
  5. chair — a leader
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. race — humankind
  9. scale — size or range
  10. spring — the season
  11. kid — child
  12. scale — in music
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. spring — a coil
  16. kid — to tease
  17. spring — of water
  18. board — a committee
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. fine — high quality
  21. degree — an amount
  22. fine — all right
  23. race — the arms race
  24. fine — a penalty

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