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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chest — of your body
  3. last — finally
  4. saw — the tool
  5. degree — from a university
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — certain
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. chest — a box
  13. perch — the fish
  14. last — final
  15. rock — music
  16. degree — an amount
  17. last — to go on
  18. bound — tied together
  19. rock — a stone
  20. degree — temperature
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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