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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: pitcher · cold · staff · field · chair · bear · degree · squash

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bear — the animal
  3. staff — employees
  4. chair — a leader
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bear — the animal
  8. degree — an amount
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the sport
  12. degree — temperature
  13. field — farmland
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cold — not warm
  16. staff — employees
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. field — for sport
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. staff — a stick
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. field — a subject
  24. cold — an illness

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