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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cue — a hint
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. cue — a signal
  11. lie — to recline
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. chair — a leader
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. mark — a trace
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. chest — of your body
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — an amount
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. cue — for pool
  24. mark — a grade

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