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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. hand — in cards
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cell — a phone
  8. plane — a tool
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. degree — from a university
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. hand — help
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. degree — temperature
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. cell — in biology
  18. chair — a leader
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. arm — part of the body

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