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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rule — government
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. cold — an illness
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. degree — from a university
  8. bark — to shout
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. rule — a law
  12. sharp — clever
  13. board — a committee
  14. court — of a king
  15. degree — temperature
  16. rush — hurry
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. cold — not warm
  23. board — to get on
  24. degree — an amount

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