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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: degree · land · bound · chair · current · root · kid · ball

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. degree — an amount
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. land — to come down
  5. ball — a great time
  6. root — of a word
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. current — happening now
  9. chair — a leader
  10. land — ground
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — from a university
  13. ball — a dance
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. root — the cause
  16. bound — tied together
  17. current — electric
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. land — a country
  20. root — of a plant
  21. current — of water
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bound — obliged
  24. kid — child

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