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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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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: content · firm · chair · hand · bulb · degree · last · saw

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. firm — decided
  3. bulb — for light
  4. degree — from a university
  5. hand — in cards
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. content — the amount
  9. firm — a company
  10. chair — a leader
  11. last — finally
  12. hand — help
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. content — happy
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. last — final
  21. last — to go on
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bulb — for light
  24. firm — steady

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