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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. tube — a container
  7. season — of the year
  8. tube — the underground
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. wind — moving air
  12. snap — to click
  13. season — in sport
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. degree — an amount
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. net — for catching
  18. bear — the animal
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. bear — the animal
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. net — after costs

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