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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: chair · staff · board · degree · spell · land · squash · face

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — a leader
  4. squash — the sport
  5. land — a country
  6. staff — a stick
  7. board — to get on
  8. squash — to crush
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — a short time
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. land — to come down
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — part of the head
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — an amount
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. staff — employees
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. degree — from a university
  21. staff — employees
  22. board — a committee
  23. land — ground
  24. face — to confront

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