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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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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: chair · degree · march · date · stand · drill

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. march — music
  3. degree — temperature
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. march — the month
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. drill — army training
  9. chair — a leader
  10. drill — the tool
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. drill — a practice
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. stand — to bear
  15. march — the month
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. date — on the calendar

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