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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. squash — the sport
  5. bound — obliged
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bear — the animal
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. squash — to crush
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bulb — for light
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. band — a ring
  16. bear — the animal
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bound — certain
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. file — a line of people
  21. band — a music group
  22. bound — tied together
  23. chair — a leader
  24. bulb — for light

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