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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 120 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: chair · track · rest · wave · degree · squash · cell · bear

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. bear — the animal
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. track — to keep track
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — temperature
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. bear — the animal
  10. chair — a leader
  11. degree — from a university
  12. squash — the sport
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. rest — a break
  18. squash — to crush
  19. track — a song
  20. cell — in biology
  21. track — a path
  22. rest — what's left
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in a prison

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