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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. degree — temperature
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. game — a match
  12. mine — for digging
  13. rule — a law
  14. degree — an amount
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — happy
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. game — wild animals
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. stand — to bear
  21. rule — government
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. pop — soda
  24. pop — music

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