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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. degree — an amount
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bound — tied together
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. chest — of your body
  9. prune — to trim
  10. sharp — clever
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. chest — a box
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. degree — from a university
  17. wax — to grow
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bound — certain
  20. tube — a container
  21. chair — a leader
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. tube — the underground
  24. degree — temperature

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