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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 116 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 · court · degree · row · deal · rule · bank · sharp

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. deal — to handle
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. rule — government
  5. bank — of a river
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a leader
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. row — a line
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bank — for money
  12. court — of law
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rule — a law
  17. bank — for money
  18. row — to paddle
  19. sharp — clever
  20. degree — temperature
  21. court — of a king
  22. degree — from a university
  23. court — for sport
  24. sharp — with an edge

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