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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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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: wound · current · mark · chair · kick · bat · drill · degree

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. drill — the tool
  3. current — electric
  4. current — of water
  5. chair — a leader
  6. mark — a trace
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kick — in football
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. current — happening now
  12. degree — an amount
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. drill — army training
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. mark — a grade
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. drill — a practice
  24. wound — an injury

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