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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. wind — moving air
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. degree — temperature
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. root — the cause
  11. root — of a plant
  12. track — to keep track
  13. tube — a container
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. chair — a leader
  16. tube — the underground
  17. bulb — for light
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. bulb — for light
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. root — of a word
  22. wind — moving air
  23. track — a path
  24. track — a song

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