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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: cell · chair · bound · mate · lean · root · squash · degree

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cell — a phone
  7. root — of a plant
  8. squash — the sport
  9. lean — thin
  10. root — of a word
  11. mate — a partner
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bound — certain
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — an amount
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. degree — temperature
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bound — obliged
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. squash — to crush
  24. root — the cause

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