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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. degree — from a university
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. board — to get on
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — to shout
  9. season — of the year
  10. board — a committee
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — a leader
  13. spring — a coil
  14. can — a tin
  15. can — to be able to
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. spring — of water
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. season — in sport
  20. degree — an amount
  21. spring — the season
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. can — a tin
  24. degree — temperature

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