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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: ball · staff · hand · present · degree · pound · game · chair

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. pound — a weight
  3. present — there
  4. chair — a leader
  5. present — the time now
  6. degree — from a university
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. game — wild animals
  10. degree — temperature
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. staff — employees
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. staff — employees
  17. present — a gift
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. degree — an amount
  20. game — a match
  21. hand — in cards
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. ball — a great time
  24. staff — a stick

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