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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. field — a subject
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mate — a partner
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. degree — temperature
  7. mate — to breed
  8. field — farmland
  9. shower — rain
  10. object — an aim
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. chair — a leader
  13. object — a thing
  14. degree — from a university
  15. shower — to wash
  16. press — to push
  17. press — a publisher
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. press — newspapers
  21. degree — an amount
  22. field — for sport
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. calf — a young animal

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