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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: fork · mine · suit · race · club · wound · chair · degree

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. wound — an injury
  4. suit — clothes
  5. race — a contest
  6. wound — an injury
  7. chair — a leader
  8. degree — an amount
  9. club — a group
  10. suit — to fit
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. race — the arms race
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. mine — for digging
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — for dancing
  18. suit — in cards
  19. degree — from a university
  20. fork — in a road
  21. degree — temperature
  22. race — humankind
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — to eat with

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