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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a leader
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — for digging
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. degree — from a university
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. degree — an amount
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. toast — bread
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. foot — a measure
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. wake — a trail
  21. degree — temperature
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. hide — animal skin

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