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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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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: degree · pit · roll · saw · prune · ruler · chair · drill

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. prune — to trim
  3. saw — the tool
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. degree — temperature
  7. prune — to trim
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. degree — an amount
  10. drill — the tool
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. drill — a practice
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. pit — a hole
  15. degree — from a university
  16. roll — a cake
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. pit — in a race
  20. roll — a list
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. drill — army training
  23. saw — the tool
  24. chair — a leader

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