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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 116 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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — in sport
  5. wax — to grow
  6. bass — low music
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. land — a country
  11. degree — temperature
  12. suit — clothes
  13. degree — from a university
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. degree — an amount
  17. suit — to fit
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. dip — to sink
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. suit — in cards
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. bass — the fish

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