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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cabinet · pop · degree · chair · net · scale · hide · rule

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. rule — a law
  6. pop — to visit
  7. degree — temperature
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. scale — in music
  11. net — after costs
  12. pop — soda
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. degree — from a university
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. pop — music
  20. degree — an amount
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. scale — size or range
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. scale — for weighing

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