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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. degree — an amount
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. degree — temperature
  5. current — electric
  6. current — of water
  7. current — happening now
  8. bank — for money
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. degree — from a university
  11. kid — to tease
  12. net — in sport
  13. bank — of a river
  14. chair — a leader
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. kid — child
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ground — the earth
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — after costs
  22. saw — the tool
  23. ground — a position
  24. bank — for money

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