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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. pitch — completely
  3. degree — from a university
  4. face — part of the head
  5. board — a committee
  6. pound — a weight
  7. face — to confront
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a tool
  10. spring — a coil
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. file — a line of people
  13. spring — the season
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — temperature
  18. fork — in a road
  19. board — to get on
  20. face — to point toward
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. spring — of water
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pitch — a sports field

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