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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cabinet · track · chip · mate · degree · prune · march · chair

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. march — music
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. march — the month
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. march — the month
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — to breed
  17. chip — for betting
  18. degree — from a university
  19. chip — to eat
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. track — a path
  22. track — a song
  23. track — to keep track
  24. chip — in a computer

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