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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 · leaves · rush · season · degree · drill · face · chair

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. season — of the year
  4. degree — from a university
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. degree — temperature
  7. ball — a great time
  8. face — to point toward
  9. season — in sport
  10. rush — hurry
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. ball — a dance
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — army training
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. drill — the tool
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. face — to confront
  21. degree — an amount
  22. chair — a leader
  23. face — part of the head
  24. leaves — of a tree

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