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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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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: prune · degree · wind · ruler · foot · chair

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. foot — a measure
  6. prune — to trim
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — from a university
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — an amount
  16. chair — a leader
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. wind — moving air

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