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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — an illness
  4. charge — in control
  5. track — a path
  6. craft — a skill
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. spring — a coil
  12. track — a song
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. charge — electricity
  15. degree — an amount
  16. craft — boats
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. degree — temperature
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cold — not warm
  22. charge — a price
  23. track — to keep track
  24. craft — a handicraft

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