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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. chair — a leader
  4. wake — a trail
  5. degree — temperature
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. club — for golf
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. row — a line
  14. club — a group
  15. mine — for digging
  16. degree — an amount
  17. dip — to sink
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. degree — from a university
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. club — for dancing
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. row — to paddle

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