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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: chair · tear · degree · deal · rock · current · march · club

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. march — the month
  3. tear — from crying
  4. current — electric
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. rock — music
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. current — of water
  9. march — the month
  10. club — a group
  11. degree — temperature
  12. current — happening now
  13. chair — a leader
  14. tear — to rip
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. degree — an amount
  17. deal — to handle
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. club — for golf
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — from a university
  23. club — for dancing
  24. rock — a stone

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