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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. key — for a lock
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. tube — the underground
  5. key — the most important part
  6. object — a thing
  7. degree — temperature
  8. object — an aim
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. can — to be able to
  11. key — in music
  12. degree — an amount
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the sport
  16. can — a tin
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. chair — a leader
  19. can — a tin
  20. object — to protest
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — goods
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. tube — a container

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