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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. chair — a leader
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. degree — from a university
  5. shower — to wash
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. degree — temperature
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. content — the amount
  11. current — of water
  12. pop — to visit
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pop — soda
  15. pop — music
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. shower — rain
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — happy
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. rush — hurry
  22. current — happening now
  23. current — electric
  24. rush — a thrill

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