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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chair — a leader
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. fall — to drop
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. kick — in football
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. fork — in a road
  11. wax — to grow
  12. staff — a stick
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. fall — to drop
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. staff — employees
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. staff — employees
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fall — the season

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