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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · chair · degree · bay · scale · rash

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. rash — hasty
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. degree — temperature
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. scale — size or range
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. scale — in music
  15. tear — to rip
  16. rash — a series
  17. tear — from crying
  18. degree — from a university

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