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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.

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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: degree · cell · chair · cabinet · race · leaves · rest · saw

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. chair — a leader
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. rest — what's left
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. degree — temperature
  10. race — the arms race
  11. cell — in biology
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. saw — the tool
  16. degree — from a university
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — humankind
  23. rest — what's left
  24. cell — a phone

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