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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spring — of water
  3. chair — a leader
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. land — a country
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. degree — an amount
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. squash — the sport
  13. degree — temperature
  14. land — to come down
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. spring — the season
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. degree — from a university
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — a division
  24. spring — a coil

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