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

Word bank: pit · stand · object · degree · last · chair

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. object — an aim
  4. degree — temperature
  5. chair — a leader
  6. pit — in a race
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. stand — to bear
  11. pit — a hole
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. degree — an amount
  14. last — to go on
  15. degree — from a university
  16. object — to protest
  17. object — a thing
  18. last — finally

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