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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — temperature
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. saw — the tool
  8. file — a line of people
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. file — a document
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. fine — all right
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. saw — the tool
  19. fine — high quality
  20. board — to get on
  21. cold — an illness
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. file — a tool
  24. rush — hurry

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