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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: stand · kid · season · chair · degree · scale · clip · squash

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. clip — for paper
  3. season — in sport
  4. degree — an amount
  5. stand — to bear
  6. clip — to cut
  7. scale — in music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. kid — child
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. season — of the year
  18. degree — from a university
  19. squash — the sport
  20. kid — to tease
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. squash — to crush
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chair — a professorship

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