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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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468
Word bank
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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cap — a lid
  4. mate — to breed
  5. root — of a plant
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a hat
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. degree — an amount
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. mate — a partner
  12. root — of a word
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mate — a friend
  16. rash — a series
  17. chair — a leader
  18. chest — of your body
  19. root — the cause
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. chest — a box
  23. degree — from a university
  24. chest — of your 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