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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. last — to go on
  8. rule — government
  9. kick — in football
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. rule — a law
  15. bat — the animal
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. last — final
  18. degree — from a university
  19. last — finally
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. rush — hurry
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. kick — with a leg

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