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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. craft — a skill
  5. chair — a leader
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. degree — temperature
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. prune — to trim
  11. degree — from a university
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. mark — a grade
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. prune — to trim
  16. craft — boats
  17. present — there
  18. capital — a city
  19. mark — a trace
  20. capital — money
  21. present — the time now
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rush — hurry
  24. chair — to sit on

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