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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: hand · chair · degree · bark · game · pass · stem · bound

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. chair — a leader
  2. bound — certain
  3. degree — temperature
  4. game — wild animals
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — help
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. degree — from a university
  9. game — a match
  10. bound — obliged
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. degree — an amount
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — to come from
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. pass — a permit
  20. bark — to shout
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bound — tied together
  23. hand — part of the body
  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