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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 116 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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. court — of a king
  3. field — farmland
  4. row — a line
  5. court — for sport
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. craft — boats
  8. degree — an amount
  9. degree — temperature
  10. board — to get on
  11. kid — child
  12. kick — in football
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. field — a subject
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. court — of law
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. field — for sport
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. craft — a skill
  22. kid — to tease
  23. degree — from a university
  24. row — to paddle

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