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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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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 · net · rest · wake · chair · mine · degree · swing

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. swing — to play on
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — a trail
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. chair — a leader
  8. degree — an amount
  9. rest — what's left
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. net — after costs
  12. mine — for digging
  13. toast — bread
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. swing — in golf
  16. net — in sport
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. net — for catching
  22. swing — music
  23. rest — a break
  24. toast — the most admired

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