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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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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: degree · chair · bowl · deal · snap · spell

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  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. degree — an amount
  2. spell — a short time
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. spell — magic
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. snap — to click
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. degree — temperature
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. spell — letters
  15. deal — to handle
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. bowl — a football final
  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