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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — thin
  4. degree — temperature
  5. lean — to bend
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cell — a phone
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — a leader
  14. game — a match
  15. content — happy
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. cell — in biology
  18. content — the amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. degree — an amount
  22. pass — a permit
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. game — a kind of play

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