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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. rule — a law
  4. mate — a friend
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. current — happening now
  7. chair — a leader
  8. content — happy
  9. current — electric
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mate — a partner
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. rule — government
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. degree — from a university
  17. current — of water
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. degree — an amount
  22. content — the amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. wound — an injury

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