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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. degree — an amount
  5. chair — a leader
  6. drill — the tool
  7. content — happy
  8. staff — employees
  9. land — to come down
  10. staff — a stick
  11. degree — from a university
  12. land — a country
  13. face — to confront
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. land — ground
  17. degree — temperature
  18. face — part of the head
  19. drill — army training
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. face — to point toward
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. staff — employees
  24. content — the amount

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