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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: toast · chair · cell · board · spring · degree

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cell — a phone
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. spring — a coil
  8. chair — a leader
  9. degree — temperature
  10. board — a committee
  11. cell — in biology
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. spring — of water
  15. toast — bread
  16. board — to get on
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. spring — the season

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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