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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — temperature
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. file — a line of people
  6. rock — a stone
  7. craft — boats
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. prune — to trim
  11. chair — a leader
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. craft — a skill
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spell — letters
  16. land — to come down
  17. file — a tool
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. land — ground
  20. degree — an amount
  21. rock — music
  22. file — a document
  23. land — a country
  24. spell — magic

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