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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: cold · degree · chair · fine · last · key · mine · bore

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. bore — to tire
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mine — for digging
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. last — finally
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. degree — an amount
  12. key — in music
  13. chair — a leader
  14. fine — all right
  15. fine — high quality
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. bore — to drill
  20. key — for a lock
  21. key — the most important part
  22. cold — an illness
  23. degree — temperature
  24. cold — the Cold War

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