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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. game — a match
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. degree — from a university
  6. chest — a box
  7. degree — temperature
  8. squash — to crush
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chest — of your body
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. degree — an amount
  18. squash — the sport
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. rest — a break
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. rest — what's left
  24. game — wild animals

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