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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. kid — to tease
  3. file — a tool
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. lean — to bend
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a document
  9. kid — child
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. current — happening now
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. degree — an amount
  16. lean — thin
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. chair — a leader
  20. season — in sport
  21. current — electric
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. current — of water
  24. chair — a professorship

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