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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. pop — soda
  3. ground — a position
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pop — to visit
  7. ground — crushed
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. ground — the earth
  10. degree — temperature
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pop — music
  14. game — wild animals
  15. chest — of your body
  16. board — a committee
  17. club — for golf
  18. club — a group
  19. game — a match
  20. board — to get on
  21. chest — a box
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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