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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 120 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. degree — an amount
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. fine — all right
  7. degree — from a university
  8. chair — a leader
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. degree — temperature
  11. fine — high quality
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chest — a box
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. chest — of your body
  19. drill — a practice
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. bat — for baseball

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