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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: kid · pit · stand · degree · cold · bank · chair · wave

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. bank — for money
  5. degree — from a university
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chair — a leader
  9. pit — in a race
  10. degree — an amount
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bank — for money
  16. pit — a hole
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bank — of a river
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. kid — child
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. kid — to tease
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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