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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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Word bank
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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. firm — steady
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bound — obliged
  5. object — a thing
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bound — certain
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. march — the month
  12. object — an aim
  13. firm — a company
  14. file — a tool
  15. chair — a leader
  16. march — music
  17. bound — tied together
  18. march — the month
  19. degree — temperature
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. firm — decided
  22. degree — from a university
  23. file — a document
  24. object — to protest

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