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

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. board — a committee
  3. degree — temperature
  4. field — farmland
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. staff — a stick
  8. cold — not warm
  9. staff — employees
  10. field — for sport
  11. staff — employees
  12. degree — an amount
  13. squash — to crush
  14. board — to get on
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. degree — from a university
  17. suit — clothes
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. squash — the sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. suit — in cards

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