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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. land — ground
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. degree — an amount
  7. lean — to bend
  8. board — a committee
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bat — the animal
  11. land — a country
  12. tear — from crying
  13. lean — thin
  14. degree — temperature
  15. land — to come down
  16. tear — to rip
  17. degree — from a university
  18. board — a flat piece

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