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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 120 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 had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. squash — to crush
  4. degree — an amount
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. band — a music group
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bank — for money
  10. clip — to cut
  11. band — a ring
  12. row — a line
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. clip — for paper
  15. squash — the sport
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bank — for money
  19. chair — a leader
  20. clip — a video
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. bank — of a river
  23. degree — from a university
  24. row — to paddle

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