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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: stick · spell · date · chair · degree · wake · cell · land

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wake — a trail
  3. degree — from a university
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. spell — a short time
  7. chair — a leader
  8. spell — magic
  9. degree — temperature
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — the fruit
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. cell — in biology
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. spell — letters
  18. cell — a phone
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. land — ground
  24. chair — a professorship

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